Valley of Fear
by Sabari
Summary: While off-world on mission, Major Lorne's team encounters a people known as the Ntsevu. Things seem to be going well until they realize the major has the ATA gene, and then everything changes. For Lorne, nothing ever seems to go quite right.
1. Chapter 1

" _Before we are alarmed, we see correctly; when we are alarmed, we see double; and when we have been alarmed, we see nothing but trouble."_

 **-Alexandre Dumas** _ **(The Count of Monte Cristo)**_

* * *

High mountains ringed the pine forested valley like scowling border guards, daring anyone or anything to get past them, their steep sides, jagged peaks and the loose shale they wore like a cloak ensuring that no one would be getting in or out in any way except for one.

That singular way sat in the center of one of the valley's few clearings, up a hill that seemed to have had its top sawed off just to make a flat table of land for the great dark silver ring that was set with its edge apparently wedged into a pedestal which held it firmly upright. That ring was the Stargate.

Avyan and Karka, of the distant city of Ntsevu, had been studying the ring for almost as long as they'd been alive. Queen Jahnavi had long ago had her scientists abandon research on the Stargate, primarily because the Wraith seemed especially fond of scooping up anyone near the ring whenever they came for a culling. Instead, she had them refocus on trying to find a way over or through the seemingly impenetrable mountains, which reduced the chances of the Wraith picking them off.

Her intentions to preserve the few scientific minds at her disposal and to protect her people as best she could were noble, but Avyan and Karka were both convinced that the only escape from the Wraith lay in understanding how to operate the Stargate, knowledge which had been lost long ago.

Whatever progress was made on the subject was soon erased whenever the Wraith returned because the Queen's scientists had the habit of keeping all of their knowledge in their minds except towards the ends of their natural lives, at which time they would write down what they knew if they still had the mental faculties for it. Because of the Wraith, they rarely lived so long, especially if they worked near the Stargate. The Queen knew, as all of the Ntsevu people did, that the Wraith were intentionally holding them back, intentionally destroying records and their greatest minds whenever they advanced beyond a certain level. The Wraith wanted them helpless, wanted them confined to this valley.

No one knew why, for no one had ever talked to a Wraith. At least, no one who had lived to tell the tale. And no one who was culled ever returned, nor was there any record as to why they were culled. It was enough to know that they were being controlled by an outside force beyond their comprehension, and that they wanted it to stop. Avyan and Karka were convinced that the Stargate would be their salvation, if they could ever get it to function.

In their records, they held the knowledge of other places, places not bounded on all sides by mountains. Even if the Wraith followed them, in those places they would be able to run. They would have somewhere to go, somewhere to hide. They might even have a kingdom consisting of more than one major city and a few roving hunter/gatherer tribes that traded what they could hunt or gather for what the people of the city could grow or build.

Avyan was from a hunter/gatherer tribe at the Northern most edge of the valley, though his intelligence had been recognized early on and he had been brought to the Queen, who commanded that he be educated and trained in the scientific arts. Karka was from the city, but she too had been recognized as having a fine mind, and had been educated just as Avyan. In fact, they had met when they were only ten and twelve years old, Karka being the eldest. Now twenty and twenty-two, they were both full of the hope and drive and arrogance of youth, and were convinced that study of the Stargate should resume.

They had spent a long time composing their formal argument, using every scrap of scientific and historical knowledge at their disposal, as well as the best logic they could summon, before finally going before Queen Jahnavi and begging to be allowed to journey to 'Ring Hill' and study the Stargate.

With obvious reluctance but clear awareness of the validity of the points they made, she granted them her permission to go. Because it was such a long journey, and because she did not wish for their work to be needlessly slowed down, the Queen even instructed one of the hunter/gatherer tribes to periodically deliver supplies to the camp Avyan and Karka set up near the base of the hill (the top was too exposed to sun and wind and other weather for them to camp there, particularly at this time of year, when the wind roared above the trees at gale speeds).

They'd been at it six months, and there'd been little in the way of forward progress. They understood that the inner ring must spin. They knew that the object standing near the Stargate would make it do that. But they were not much beyond that. They could make the inner ring spin, could make the jewels on the outer ring light up, but they could never seem to get beyond that. They knew what happened when the Stargate activated, because Wraith ships had come through it before. A whirlpool of what looked like water was supposed to rush and swirl forth, then stabilize like a standing pool. But they themselves couldn't get the Stargate to actually _do_ that.

Soon they would have to return to the city for the winter, because the ice and snow that gripped the valley at that time of year made travel dangerous, and the area around Ring Hill almost uninhabitable. The first snows had already fallen, but with the sunrise had come a thaw. Those freezing, snowy nights told Avyan and Karka that their time was running out, even though the days which followed were still warm.

Of course, they could return in the spring, but they were impatient with the delay, and were afraid that Queen Jahnavi would decide in the meantime that the risk was too great, or that their skills would be better put to use on some other task. There was also the possibility that the Wraith would come, as they so often did in the spring, and that Avyan and Karka would be culled. It was even possible that Queen Jahnavi, despite being able to sense the Wraith as she could, would be taken, and a new ruler would have to replace her, a ruler who might run things quite differently.

"Let's try this combination," Avyan said, his breath clouding in the cold morning air.

"Which?" Karka inquired, and looked over his shoulder to see what he'd drawn in the fine soft dirt, "Oh yes, that one. Okay."

Karka went to the stump-shaped object with the symbols written on it, while Avyan stood well clear of the Stargate itself. She had just reached for the first symbol of the chosen set when suddenly the inner ring began to spin all on its own.

"WRAITH!" Karka shrieked, for that was the only thing in living memory that had ever come through the Stargate.

She stumbled back from the controller, and looked fearfully at Avyan, who stared back in terror. Both of them proceeded to run, even though they knew it would probably do them no good. They'd just reached the top of the path that led down the treacherous side of Ring Hill when they heard a deafening roar. It was the sound of the Stargate activating.

Despite their terror, the sound stopped them in their tracks, and they turned to stare. They couldn't help it. The Stargate fascinated them, and awed them. It was more than just possibly being their salvation if only they could learn to operate it. There was something deeply powerful and magical about it, and they were stunned not only by the sound, but by its terrible beauty as well.

Dimly, Karka wondered if perhaps the scientists who'd come before had also stood frozen in the open like this, and if perhaps that was the real reason they had been spotted and culled.

A moment later, she forgot all of her speculations, for what came out of the still pool was not a flying machine of the Wraith, but a man. At least, he looked like a man from where she stood. He was followed by three others before the Stargate shut off. For a moment, the four men did not appear to notice Avyan or Karka as they looked around. Then the one who'd stepped through first spotted them.

For a beat, he raised menacingly the weapon he carried with him. It was far different from what the royal guards carried, but not so different Karka was unable to recognize it for what it was. She knew she should put up her hands in surrender so as not to provoke him, but she remained frozen in shock.

No humans had ever come through the Stargate. Only the very oldest records, preserved for many generations, proved that humans even existed on the other side.

Evidently the man saw no threat in Karka or Avyan, because he lowered his weapon, and the hostile look left his eyes. In fact, the expression he acquired was a surprisingly pleasant one. He seemed rather amused, but was trying not to show it. The slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth would have given him away, even if the light dancing in his blue eyes had not.

"Hi," he began cheerfully, "I suppose you're wondering why we're here."

Karka gaped at him, and said nothing. Avyan was likewise paralyzed.

"My name is Major Lorne," the man persisted, smiling at them in what appeared to be a friendly manner, "What's yours?"

The strange name seemed to enter Karka's brain and ping around in there, finding nothing to attach itself to. She could think of no response for this unprecedented event. Absurdly, she found herself remembering her class on etiquette, which required her to invite a guest in and offer them something to eat or drink. But that was generally preceded by a knock on the door, and she wasn't inside. She supposed the Stargate could be thought of as a door, in which case these 'guests' had come in uninvited, which was actually terribly rude of them.

She shook her head to dispel the ridiculous thoughts, and managed to remember how to introduce herself.

"I am Karka, a scientist of the Queen's imperial research team," she was astonished by how steady her voice was, and how easily she followed this with a gesture in Avyan's direction, "This is Avyan, my assistant. What brings you here to Ring Hill?"

Actually she wanted to know why they were in the valley. To heck with that, what were they doing on this planet at all? The Stargate could take them to other worlds, that much she knew. What would people who knew how to operate it want with such obviously primitive peoples as the Ntsevu?

"The Stargate brought us here," Major Lorne replied, and waved at the Stargate, "The big ring thing."

"Yes, I saw that," Karka said, suddenly feeling a burst of impatience as she recognized this irritating and typically male sense of humor and momentarily forgetting both her fear and her awe, "What I meant was _why_ are you here?"

"Ah, yes, that," he nodded as if he had not understood the question the first time, but the look in his eyes said he was having fun at her expense and enjoying it immensely, "We came to conduct trade negotiations with your people. See, you may have something we want, and maybe we can trade you for something we have that you want."

Did this man take her for a fool?

"I know how negotiation and trade work," Karka said through narrowed eyes.

"Great," Lorne said cheerfully, "So do I."

Avyan still had not found his tongue, and continued to stare gormlessly at the newcomers. Karka supposed she should still be impressed by them, as she had been a moment before. But, seeing nothing to fear, the emotion changed to an intense annoyance. She was annoyed that she had been afraid, annoyed that she had stopped and stared at the Stargate when she should have run, annoyed that she had not been able to find her voice, and annoyed that this man seemed to enjoy her fumbling at the start. She also found Major Lorne himself annoying.

Anyone coming through the Stargate should be regal, formal and well-spoken. Major Lorne's persistent levity and cocksure grin were not at all appropriate for someone capable of traveling the stars as he did.

* * *

It took quite a bit of coaxing and unflinchingly groan-worthy jokes to convince Karka and Avyan to take Major Lorne and his team to 'their leader', but Lorne figured it was worth it. The visiting team had been prepared for people, but they'd expected a long trip through the forest first. Lorne had been surprised and a little thrown off his game by the sight of the two royal scientists gaping at him as he came through the 'Gate. How much more surprised Karka and Avyan must be.

While many of the Atlantis expedition hadn't even known about the Stargate program prior to joining the mission to explore the Pegasus galaxy, Lorne himself had made several ventures through the Stargate prior to that. At the time, he'd served under a CO who didn't tend to play well with others, so his missions had primarily involved visiting planets without other people. But the few times he had been startled by people on the other side, it hadn't gone very well.

People in the milky way galaxy tended to mistake folks coming through the Stargate for gods or demons, depending upon how they felt about the Goa'uld. The people here had of course never even heard of a Goa'uld, much less seen one. Many of them -such as the Athosians- had also used the Stargate for themselves to visit other worlds and conduct trade.

The expressions of Karka and Avyan on seeing the Atlantis team step through told Lorne that their people had not used the Stargate. Not wanting to be mistaken for a god, a demon or anything else he wasn't, Lorne purposely and persistently made simple and obvious jokes to put them at ease. It didn't hurt any that those jokes also amused him, or that Karka's openly displayed annoyance said she was regarding him as just a man, nothing more special or terrible than that.

Avyan had still said nothing by the time he and Karka were leading Lorne's team down the hill to what Karka referred to as 'the hunter's road' to the city. When Lorne inquired about it, Karka had looked at him as if he were a simpleton, and explained that it was the road the hunters used.

She did not elaborate, but Lorne could guess that the road was used by hunters in the field to return more quickly and easily to the city with their captured prey. Road building to allow for quick travel was one of the first things the Athosians had done when they moved to Lantea. Lorne had not seen their original home, but he assumed they'd built roads there as well.

By most standards, this road barely qualified for the term. It was mostly a line carved through the forest by clearing the trees and brush from it. Though grasses didn't appear common in the valley, some had grown in scattered patches on the road. Otherwise, however, it was a path of dark soil that in some low places clearly experienced flooding at certain times of the year, though it was pretty dry now.

In their initial inspection of the planet, they had not seen the road. Then again, they had not seen Karka or Avyan either, even though Karka said she and her assistant had been studying the Stargate and the area around it for months. Somehow they'd timed their look-see of the area around the Stargate so that they just missed seeing the two young scientists.

Though he hadn't been as thorough in reading mission reports as certain other people involved in the Stargate program and Atlantis expedition, Lorne knew this was definitely not the first time that things had not been as they first appeared. But Lorne was flexible, and tended to take just about every unexpected thing that happened to him in stride, which was part of why Colonel Sheppard had wanted him for a team leader, and his second in the military chain of command in Atlantis. Doctor Weir had undoubtedly approved Sheppard's choice for much the same reason.

Lorne wasn't necessarily the sharpest tool in the shed, but in the couple of years he'd been in the Stargate program prior to joining the Atlantis expedition, he'd come to recognize that fact, which was more than could be said for the majority of people. A few bad experiences had taught him some humility, of which he'd learned even more since coming to Atlantis. But he never let either his occasional stupidity or humbling experiences get in the way of his sense of humor or relentless cheerfulness even in the face of death, both of which made a shield against the potential shock and horrors that could await on the other side of the Stargate that was very nearly impervious.

In short, he was a man capable of following orders as well as giving them, and keeping his cool under extreme pressure and in dire circumstances, as well as continuing towards a given objective even if he made a mistake or experienced devastating failure. He'd keep trying to the end, which was exactly the kind of person Atlantis needed on its team, and precisely who Sheppard wanted to serve as his second-in-command running the military aspects of the Atlantis expedition.

What all of that boiled down to was that, despite being surprised by Karka, Avyan and the unexpected presence of this road which would significantly speed up their originally planned travel time, Lorne wasn't worried about what else might be waiting up ahead that he wasn't expecting. It wasn't Lorne's habit to worry until it was absolutely necessary.  
However, worry or no worry, there was still sensible caution. Though nothing about Karka or Avyan made Lorne feel uneasy or suspicious, he nonetheless directed his team to spread out in formation behind him. If any unpleasant surprises did find them, having each man several feet back from the one ahead of him, and on alternating sides of the road, reduced the chances of all of them being taken out or captured in one fell swoop.

Maybe Lorne wasn't overly clever, but something about repeated ambushes and the occasional kidnapping had left a certain mark on him that someone unfamiliar with the history of the Atlantis expedition and the Stargate program in general might describe as paranoia.

However, if he was paranoid, nobody on Atlantis seemed to have noticed, and in fact a number of them seemed to think he was still a little too confident. Here and now, neither Karka nor Avyan were picking up on it either. They had both looked at his surface calm and accepted it at face value. Most people did.

But, looking past the downward slope of the road ahead, and its upward curve at the other end, Lorne found himself looking at the outside walls of the city of the Ntsevu with some unease.

Lorne wasn't an expert in technology or culture or history, but he had a good visual memory and an eye for detail, and he could see that the walls and spires visible from the road were not unlike those of Atlantis herself, suggesting that the Ntsevu were living in a city of the Ancients.

Even though he had known that was the case before he left Atlantis, Lorne couldn't help but feel a certain... mild anxiety at sight of such a structure. He also felt a bit of a thrill, not because he found the Ancients or their cities so exciting, but because it was possible he might find something useful here, maybe even a Zero Point Module.

But, foolish as he might be at times, Lorne was wise enough to realize that -with the possibility of a great reward- there was also the likelihood of grave risk, and the very real potential for death.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note: This story is completely written. I will be uploading one chapter per day. It is potentially slightly AU, but not on purpose. Midway through the writing of this story, I was interrupted for about seven months. Because I didn't make a note as to which part of the series this is set in, I didn't actually know when I came back. I think somewhere in season 2 is likely, or early season 3._** _ **I wrote this for my entertainment, and I am publishing it here for yours. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.**_


	2. Chapter 2

From up close, it was evident that the structure that had resembled Atlantis from a distance was actually much smaller and far less elaborate than the floating city. It was also evident from what Karka and Avyan had said that the Ntsevu regarded the building as a temple and that only priests lived there.

The journey would've taken quite a chunk of the day anyway, but the relatively slow pace of Karka and Avyan made it all the worse. The two of them actually insisted on staying overnight with one of the hunter/gatherer tribes, so they could start early the next morning and reach the city before noon. Lorne could have argued, but it seemed like it would be a good idea to get along with these people. If it meant spending a little extra time here to get on the Ntsevu's good side, Dr. Weir would understand that.

They responded to a scheduled check in just before they were beyond radio range, and gave Atlantis an update on their circumstances. They'd known going in that they would be out of contact for a portion of the mission. One of Dr. Rodney McKay's geek squad had found reference to the structure the Ntsevu were using as a temple, though it was unclear what function the building had.

Frankly, there were other teams better suited to studying the ruins, but most of them were either occupied with other missions, or recouping from previous ones. And besides, while Lorne's team was not the best equipped scientifically, they tended to make a good first impression with locals by being a combination of visually intimidating and behaviorally friendly and easy to get along with. As soldiers, they were more than capable of defending themselves if need be, but with Lorne's fairly easy-going temperament and willingness to follow the guidelines devised by Dr. Weir with the help of Colonel Sheppard and others at the helm, they were not apt to start shooting before it became necessary.

Exploration was a multi-step process, and Lorne's team made a good first step because they gave the impression of strength without conveying an image brutality, of peaceful nature without helplessness.

Once they'd made their first impressions by talking with the locals and bringing up the notion of trade, possibly even making a small agreement, then they could begin bringing in more people with different specialties. Though he would never show disrespect by saying it aloud, Lorne quietly prided himself on being a better negotiator on average than Sheppard. There weren't many things anyone could say they were better at than Colonel Sheppard, but the man's abilities at the negotiation table were almost laughable... if anyone had dared to laugh at the colonel, or disliked him enough to do so.

Before they actually entered the city proper, Lorne pulled his team in from their travel formation, to a more compact defensive one, just in case they found themselves suddenly unwelcome. There had been some experimentation, but it was found that SG teams functioned best as four-man units. The combined fact of limited resources and the desire to not appear too threatening to the peoples they encountered made a full squad unfeasible, and anything between that and a single fireteam of four was unwieldy. On the rare mission when greater numbers were necessary, teams could be combined with a clear chain of command. Lorne's team had more than once been combined with Sheppard's, with Sheppard as their ultimate commander of course. Lorne didn't mind being a member of the "B-team."

Another thing that had proven successful over and over was something that at first seemed trivial. And that was having a big scary man on the team, someone like Ronon Dex for instance. Lorne didn't have anybody equal to Ronon, but he did have Lt. Reed, a tall, broad-shouldered man who looked more like the stereotypical Marine than a member of the Air Force. The man looked like a bear, but was really a pussycat. He served as the "big scary guy" of Lorne's team, towering over most people, speaking little and managing a good glower at ideal times. A big scary guy could end a potential conflict before it started. Lorne had seen many times over the look in someone's eye when they were thinking about picking a fight with him, then they would glance subtly at Reed and rethink the matter, deciding to pursue a more peaceful means of resolving a dispute.

Now Reed moved up so that he was just slightly behind and to Lorne's left. Reed served as Lorne's second on the team, as well as his "big scary guy". The other two followed them.

Karka and Avyan led the way into the city, which was hidden at first by the Ancient building they called a temple. Coming around the side of the building, Lorne was not surprised to find that the 'city' was really more of a village, mostly composed of fairly primitive hut-like buildings and open air stalls in the "market square". The only stone structure was on the opposite side from the Ancient building, and it was the palace.

From the look of it, the whole of the place was not much bigger than the Gate room, control room, Dr. Weir's office and the conference room combined. Admittedly that was actually quite a lot of space, but when you lived there it gradually began to feel less impressive, and certainly anything less wasn't something to stop and stare at.

There also wasn't a great deal of security outside the palace, or even inside. Apparently the queen of the Ntsevu didn't have to worry about assassins or angry mobs. That in itself was a little reassuring. When the leader had to hide from their own people behind a wall of soldiers, something had usually gone wrong. Likewise, a complete lack of security on the part of a leader could also bode ill, because that could mean they had control of their populace by some untoward means, such as mind control or manipulation of that sort. In the case of the Ntsevu, there were no other people in their valley, so they did not have to worry about rivals or enemies.

Though security was lax enough that Lorne could probably have gone into the throne room all by himself and killed the queen if that had been his mission, there were some guards in the room itself, though they looked to be more ornamental than anything, and made absolutely no attempt to stop or search Lorne and his team as they followed Karka and Avyan almost right up to the Queen's throne.

The inside walls of the building were unadorned, except for torches placed at regular intervals to provide light at night. During the day, the light mostly came in through large windows set above head level, as well as the front entrance to the throne room, which stood wide open. The throne room seemed to open right out onto the street, but the reality was that the path up from the market square was actually quite steep, which both slowed down anyone attempting to storm the castle as well as prevented someone with a projectile weapon from getting a good shot at the back part of the throne room, which of course was where the Queen and her throne were located.

Coughlin, close at hand, touched Lorne's shoulder. Lorne glanced at him, and Coughlin jerked his head subtly upward. Following that gesture, Lorne noticed a chandelier on the ceiling that looked suspiciously like it ran on electricity. This was relevant mainly because it was a clue as to where these people were technologically speaking, and that was important to know.

The ceiling was braced with wood beams, and the floor was of simple stone that was polished only by the number of feet that had trod on it. The Queen appeared to live in minimal opulence, though without seeing how the commoners lived, one could not be sure if this was because she didn't believe in lording over her people more than necessary, or if resources were merely limited.

It did not surprise Lorne to see that the Queen's throne was very out of place in this primitive structure. This was not the first time a Control Chair had been appropriated for royalty. Lorne supposed it said something that the Queen had only the chair itself, instead of living in the Ancient building, which certainly had to be a lot nicer than this palace of hers, even if it was completely without power or nobody here had the ATA gene required to make it function, as seemed to be the case, at least at first glance.

The Queen sat motionless on the chair as Lorne and the others approached, her quiet expression showing no surprise or concern as they did so, as if she had seen off-worlders every day of her life.

Something in her gaze reminded Lorne of Teyla, who -while not a queen- was the leader of her people and thus royal in her own right. But it was there that the resemblance ended. The Queen wore a pale dress of light fabric, and a crown that looked like silver. Her skin was fair, her eyes blue, her hair blond and down to her waist, held back from her face only by ribbon that matched the dress she was wearing.

Lorne stopped what seemed like a polite distance away, while Karka and Avyan continued forward a few paces and knelt before the Queen, Karka hurriedly explaining their presence here, and the unexpected guests they had brought while the Queen listened in impassive silence.

She spoke to them quietly when they had finished, and the two rose from their kneeling position and stepped aside. Lorne was somewhat surprised to see the Queen rise from her throne and step towards him and his team, instead of demanding that they come closer. He didn't know if it was an attempt to meet him as an equal, or if it was a show of confidence. Or both.

Regardless, Lorne stood his ground passively. He wasn't about to kneel before the Queen, but he had no intention of reacting aggressively either. Like as not, she was actually just curious, or perhaps trying to establish in her mind how potentially dangerous these strangers were.

Lorne had to remind himself that neither she nor her people had ever seen an outsider. Karka had explained that there were what she called tribes in the area who hunted and gathered, but seldom entered the city and certainly didn't live there. But they were ultimately ruled by the same queen as the city dwellers, and also referred to themselves as Ntsevu.

After looking him and his team over in silence for many seconds, the Queen finally met Lorne's eyes.

"I am Jahnavi," she said, "Queen of the Ntsevu."

"Major Lorne," Lorne replied, "I'm here as a representative of the people formerly living on Atlantis."

Actually, of course, he was a representative of the people _currently_ living on Atlantis, but that was a secret kept from all but their most trusted allies, though he suspected it didn't make any difference at this juncture, because the Ntsevu had been trapped here for so long and had lost so many records according to Karka that they likely had no idea what Atlantis was.

Queen Jahnavi showed no more recognition of the name Atlantis than Lorne felt when he heard Ntsevu.

"I am told that you have come seeking trade," Queen Jahnavi said, "Tell me, what could we possibly have to offer you who can travel the stars by using the Stargate?"

"Food," Lorne said simply, "Possibly medical supplies. Our technology is probably beyond yours, but you may have the raw materials we need to make medicines."

Actually, these had become minor problems of late, but it was always a good place to start. Food and medicine were always understood to be important commodities, and established Lorne's people as ones who were sensible in their priorities. Later, once relations were more firmly established, more complex and less obvious items of trade could be talked about, asked for and offered.

"And what would you offer us in return?" Jahnavi inquired reasonably.

"While our supplies may be low, our technology is not. Perhaps we could improve your medical knowledge," Lorne suggested, though he had an idea Jahnavi would be very much interested in something entirely different.

"We are, as you might imagine, more interested in seeking to understand the Stargate, and to defend ourselves from the creatures which hunt us."

"The Wraith," Lorne nodded, "We've tangled with them a time or two."

"Then you understand why it is more important for us to be able to defend ourselves against or hide from the Wraith than it is to improve our knowledge of medicine."

"I do," Lorne confirmed, "And it's possible that we may be able to come to an agreement on that."

The Queen's expression had been carefully calculated up to now, showing nothing in the way of emotion, no hostility or welcome. But now she smiled, an expression which transformed her face from cold and rather plain-looking to beautiful and actually quite warm.

"A possibility is all that I could ask," she said, "At least, until we know each other better. To that end, I welcome you to our city. You are free to explore and speak to my people. I would also ask that, in a few hours, you join me for a midday meal so that we may get better acquainted."

"We'd be delighted," Lorne told her, "Thank you."

He guessed that, in the meantime, Queen Jahnavi would be speaking with her advisers, and probably observing the movements of Lorne and his team. She probably also hoped to learn more about them from what her people would later be able to tell her. He suspected she knew she would learn more about them in the informal and free setting of the streets of her city than she would at a formal and etiquette restricted luncheon. Lorne was happy to oblige in this instance, because he knew that he would learn more about the Ntsevu by talking _to_ them than he would by speaking with the Queen _about_ them.

* * *

Lorne and his team had been given free rein to look around the city, and that's exactly what they did. They weren't looking for woven baskets or fresh fruits or bunches of herbs. What they were looking at was the level of technology, assessing what sort of things the city was lacking that they might be able to provide in trade, whether it was a lack of medicine or a misunderstanding of how to build wells. They were also looking for friendly locals to whom they could speak indirectly about such things, as well as get a better feel for how the place was run.

Lorne also intended to subtly get a closer look at the Ancient structure, though he didn't actually expect to be allowed inside the temple, because who would allow perfect strangers into their sacred places?

The team stayed together but at a distance, spreading out enough that they were regarded as curious individuals instead of a daunting unit. It also allowed them to recover if one of them made a blunder, because his distance from the other three made it look like he alone had done it.

Eventually, they collectively wandered to the temple, with Lorne in the lead. He was moderately surprised to find no one blocking his way or asking him not to approach the temple. When he did approach it, he did so directly, in full view, so that he might be stopped before doing something offensive, if indeed it was offensive for him to go inside. Nobody looked up or said anything.

The rest of his team hung back, waiting to see if this was a mistake they could get in trouble for, instead of all clustering in at once. Lorne knew he'd have to keep firmly in mind that -to the Ntsevu- this was a holy place. To him, it just looked like an Ancient building, remarkable but hardly miraculous.

Some of the building's systems were operational. The lights, for example, came on the moment Lorne stepped across the threshold. In that moment, everything changed.

The people on the street reacted, surprised and seemingly afraid. From one of the hallways just inside the temple, a priest appeared and gaped at Lorne. Lorne started to back up, only to hear the sound of his team snapping their weapons to a firing position. He turned in time to see the Queen's security forces appearing from behind buildings, surrounding them, weapons drawn.

Lorne reflexively raised his own weapon, but he could see his team was woefully outnumbered, and he didn't really want to fight these people, especially not when he'd evidently done something he shouldn't. He decided to try and smooth their obviously ruffled feathers.

"Uh..." he began, "Sorry?"

Their feathers did not appear to be smoothed.

Lorne and his team surrendered. It seemed like the only thing to do. Cooperatively, they allowed themselves to be searched, disarmed and herded into the Queen's throne room.

Queen Jahnavi was perched upon her throne, and her narrowed eyes glittered as she looked at the prisoners being brought before her. But, oddly, she did not look angry. In fact, if anything, she appeared pleased.

"Which of you lit the temple?" Jahnavi asked when they were halted before her, her question ringing out like an accusation and a rebuke all in one.

Around him, Lorne observed the Ntsevu security men flinching at their queen's tone. Lorne was not so impressed, though he knew what having provoked the Queen's anger might do to him and his team.

"That was me," Lorne said, "I didn't do it on purpose, it happened automatically."

"Automatically," Jahnavi repeated, and Lorne realized it was possible that was not a word she knew.

Linguistics wasn't his thing, but he supposed maybe automatic was a somewhat new word, new enough that maybe it wasn't invented at the time the ancestors of the Ntsevu had been put here by the Ancients. He decided that it might be best to elaborate, just in case.

"The lights came on because I stepped through the door, not because of anything I did on purpose. It was a response to my presence," Lorne said, wondering how in the world he could explain why that had happened with him when it obviously hadn't with the priests inside the structure.

"Would the temple respond to these three?" Jahnavi inquired, pointing to the rest of Lorne's team, who stood beside him silently.

Lorne shook his head, "No, it wouldn't. Not unless the system was already activated."

Queen Jahnavi looked at one of the security men and addressed him, "Take them to the temple. If what he says is true, return them to the Stargate; I have no further need of them."

"You're making a mistake," Reed protested loudly, for it had suddenly become apparent to him that his leader was to be held for an unknown purpose while he and the rest of the team were released.

It was one thing for them all to be captured and held together, but no member of the Atlantis expedition ever liked it when one of their number was singled out specially. The bond they shared was in some ways even closer than the typical military bond, or even what SG personnel had. They were alone in the galaxy, living in close quarters with one another, and their lives routinely depended on each other. They were relatively few in a massive and largely unfriendly galaxy, defending friends and strangers alike, at the same time they were on the front lines, defending Earth from the threat of the Wraith. And all of that was in addition to their inherent team bond, which demanded that no man be left behind.

Reed and the others would not leave without a fight. Not unless Lorne invoked an even more powerful military law: a direct order from their CO.

"Lieutenant," Lorne said calmly, "Go."

He didn't have to add what Sheppard had already told them the minute Atlantis' continued existence became a secret. Whatever they did, if there was even the slightest possibility of someone reading even part of the address, they were not to go straight home. They must go to an off-site location first, check to make sure it was still secure, and then gate home.

Reed looked like he'd balk, but then he allowed the Ntsevu security men to push him and the rest of the team out of the throne room. Lorne knew they would be back. Nothing ticked off Earthlings like having one of their own held captive. As soon as he found out what had happened, Colonel Sheppard would be here with a team (or several), pissed off and demanding that his man be returned to him. It didn't matter who Lorne was on the team, or how Sheppard felt about him personally. Even had he been the most hated member of the Atlantis expedition, men and resources would still have been employed to bring him home. That was how the people of Earth operated. It was why they had succeeded so often against both the Goa'uld and the Wraith. They had a combined willingness to die for their cause, and a fierce refusal to ever admit anyone was truly lost until they saw the body; even then they were ever determined to bring it home if that was at all possible.

Their loyalty and determination had saved them.

Reed and the others could do nothing for him now. They were only three, and they had been disarmed. But Lorne wasn't worried. His leader would come for him, and his team would undoubtedly return with him. Knowing that, he felt he had no reason to worry.


	3. Chapter 3

Colonel John Sheppard was getting antsy. Major Lorne and his team were long overdue for a check-in, and that was in addition to the lengthy period of silence that everyone had known would be a factor when they set out. It didn't help any that this was a mission John had wanted, but Elizabeth Weir had been firm in her stance that he had already been on too many taxing missions lately and needed to have a bit of a break. John interpreted that to mean that _she_ needed a break.

When John and his team were otherwise occupied, complaints from the civilians about military imposed security protocols went straight to Elizabeth. Civilians viewed most of the military as a single, mindless and terrifying entity that was to be feared, avoided and opposed whenever possible.

But John was generally likable and smart enough to grasp more of the finer points of scientific research than most people, in or out of the military. Because he was generally amiable, relaxed and clearly intelligent, they felt comfortable in approaching him with their problems.

More important in a strange way, when John was here, so too was Rodney McKay. And Rodney was known throughout Atlantis as being the unofficial head complainer in charge of general whininess. If there was any bellyaching to be done, Rodney was the one who was going to do it and if he didn't think it was worth complaining about, he would savagely rebuke whoever came to him with the "issue". Rodney was physically the weakest member of John's team, but not one of them could invoke the fear of God in geeks like Rodney could when he went on a tirade.

Rodney's derisive tone was only a small part of it. Rodney was in charge of the scientific departments of Atlantis with the exception of the medical field. He was in charge of hiring and firing and assigning. He could not only bark with the best of them, his bite was nothing to sneeze at either. He could not only shred someone's self-confidence with a stunningly vicious commentary on their abilities, but he could also take away their research and give it to someone he felt was more competent, reassigning them to study sconces or something equally mundane and irrelevant. In the lab, Rodney had real power, and his staff knew to fear him. They also knew he had not obtained his position by accident and -even had he not brilliantly saved Atlantis and her people at the last second more than once- they knew he was a genius who deserved their respect. Fear and respect were potent when combined, and the complaints -aside from those delivered by Rodney- were all but silenced when he was in the office.

What few there were, John could redirect to the department heads. If there was a real issue among the scientists, Rodney would tell him. If something went amiss medically, that was Carson Beckett's issue to report. All minor complaints would be mercifully strangled into silence before they could bother Elizabeth, who had her own very real and very intense problems to deal with.

Right now though, she and John harbored the same worries. Major Lorne's mission was somewhat risky to begin with, just because of the distance his team would have to travel from the Stargate. Almost a day's travel out of radio range on purpose to begin with wasn't very desirable. The unexpected appearance of natives at the Stargate was a wrinkle that made John uneasy. And now Lorne's team was long overdue for a check-in to boot. John didn't like it.

If he'd had the luxury, he would have been pacing nervously. But he was a leader, and it was his job to maintain his cool. If he appeared nervous, fear would spread like wildfire through the ranks. Being calm and collected under all strains was in his job description. He was a colonel, head of security and leader of the A-team on Atlantis, second only to Elizabeth, who also could not afford to look flustered.

So the both of them were busying themselves with frivolous tasks, trying to pretend they weren't concerned. Right now, they were both in Elizabeth's office, pretending to be having their weekly base security update meeting while they were actually just trying to avoid showing each other or anybody outside the office that they were even slightly concerned.

Elizabeth sat at her desk, John had draped himself across a chair near the wall in an attempt to appear more relaxed than he really was. He wondered if they were fooling anyone. Rodney was also there, but he was a perpetual ball of nervous energy, so who could tell if he was more concerned than usual or not? But he was, and he was pacing almost frantically around the office while the three of them feigned interest in the defensive systems of Atlantis, which were unchanged from last week and therefore really not worth meeting or pacing about.

Rodney gave off the vibe that he hated people, and would be a great deal happier if more of them were dead, but John had seen enough to know that Rodney was actually very sensitive and caring in his unorthodox way, and unwilling that any should die when he could have done something about it. Rodney had wanted this mission just as much as John had, and clearly felt that it should have been him, John, Teyla and Ronon out there, not Lorne and his team. Not that he'd ever say as much.

No, if anyone had asked, Rodney would have vocally insisted that he liked being alive and unharmed, and that logically there was no way they could know what had waylaid Lorne's team. Not knowing what had gone wrong, there was no telling if John and his team would have fared any better. In fact, they didn't _really_ know anything had actually gone wrong. They could be jumping to conclusions. Rodney would say all of that, and more, and most people would believe him.

But John knew better, and so did Elizabeth. Rodney wanted to be out there just as badly as John did. But Elizabeth would not authorize that. Not right now anyway. They would have to wait. Neither Rodney nor John was good at waiting.

Though they had wildly different definitions of the word -one of them being a soldier and the other a scientist- both Rodney and John were men of action, and they hated doing nothing.

Not really listening to Rodney babble inanely about something they already knew, John was suddenly shocked out of his daze by the sound of the Stargate beginning to activate. The effect couldn't have been more electrifying than if someone had splashed ice water on him.

John was on his feet immediately while Rodney broke off mid-sentence. Elizabeth was only a beat behind them as they left her office to go and see what was happening in the control room.

"What's happening?" Elizabeth asked the 'Gate technician on duty.

"I'm not sure yet," the tech said, then -as more symbols entered into the system- he amended that with, "I think it's one of the secure addresses."

The secure addresses were planets with Stargates on the ground where the human population had either left or died. In either case, there were no people there, and that's what made those sites secure. If a team was using one of those addresses, you could bet something had gone wrong on their mission.

While Elizabeth divided her attention between the Stargate and the tech, John fixed his full attention on the 'Gate itself. Rodney opted to look over the tech's shoulder and get information directly from the control panel and screen the tech was reading from, bypassing the middle man entirely.

The Stargate activated in a rush, the raised shield blocking any hope of matter transmission unless and until a security code came through, identifying the would-be visitor.

"IDC incoming now," the 'Gate tech announced, "It's Lt. Reed."

At the SGC on Earth, entire teams had a single code to identify them. But Elizabeth and John agreed that individual IDCs would be helpful -and also feasible- for their much smaller operation. Therefore, every member of every team had his own unique IDC. Of course, considering that IDC stood for Iris Deactivation Code, it was really more of an SDC, but nobody chose to call it that. Sometimes they would refer to it merely as an ID code, for identification code, but IDC was shorter and -for those who had been part of the Stargate program prior to the Atlantis expedition- more familiar.

"Lower the shield," Elizabeth commanded.

Elizabeth's command was somewhat superfluous. As long as Atlantis wasn't under an emergency protocol prohibiting 'Gate travel, the techs all had authorization to lower the shield for any IDC they recognized. Because of the way Atlantis was run, it wasn't practical to have command personnel available at all hours of the day to tell techs to raise and lower shields. Besides which, it was an extra layer of security that neither Elizabeth nor John saw the point in. However, whenever she was present, Elizabeth would give the order anyway, likely for the sake of the military personnel, who immediately deferred to a higher ranking individual in their command chain. Or maybe it just made her feel better.

The shield lowered, and a moment later, three men came through. John had been suspicious and uneasy the moment he heard that it was Reed's ID code. This was because every team leader had a habit when it came to dialing and sending the code.

John tended to leave that to Rodney, partially because Rodney could keep addresses in his head, but mostly because he was the least capable fighter among them. John's logic was that any defense of the area that needed to happen was best left to himself, Ronon and Teyla while Rodney did the tech work.

But with Lorne, his entire team was composed of capable fighters. He tended to enter the address and code himself. He'd never said why, but John suspected that it was because doing that was the most exposed position, usually requiring the person entering the address to have their back to anything or anyone that might be stalking or chasing them. He took the most dangerous job for himself, trusting his team to have his back. John could understand that and respect it.

The fact that Reed was entering the code instead of Lorne had told John immediately that Lorne was injured, dead, missing or somehow delayed. The fact that three men came through and then the Stargate deactivated behind them told him that it was one of the worse options.

"Where's Lorne?" Rodney wondered quietly, but of course nobody knew so they didn't answer him.

Reed and the rest of Lorne's team looked up at Elizabeth and John, looking rather unhappy, but not exactly grief-stricken. That suggested Lorne was still alive... or had been the last time he was seen.

* * *

 _N'we._

That was the word the Ntsevu used to describe someone with the ATA gene.

Apparently, much of the historical records of the Ntsevu had been obliterated, but what remained told the story of those with the ATA gene living among the people as one of them, except for some duties they performed at the temple which could not be done by others. That is, until a queen, an ancestor of Jahnavi, decided she wanted their power for herself, and the science experiments began. At first, it was done on a volunteer basis, but as more and more of the N'we were killed, it eventually became compulsory... until there were no more N'we left. The last had died shortly before Jahnavi's grandmother became queen, and the temple had remained dark and silent ever since.

"That was also when the Wraith returned," Jahnavi had said, "And they have recently increased the frequency of their raids, and have taken many more at a time than they used to."

Lorne knew why that was, of course. He also now understood what the Ancient building had been used for. When it was operational, it had protected the Ntsevu from attack.

"The Wraith would come, but they would fly out of the valley," Jahnavi said, "Now when they come, they never leave the valley."

That told Lorne that there must be people outside of the valley, people on the planet besides the Ntsevu, who could no more get in than the Ntsevu could get out. That suggested to Lorne that there was some form of beam transporter within the temple, since -aside from flying- that seemed the only practical means of leaving the valley. Somehow, the Ntsevu had transported themselves to the valley, for some reason leaving everyone else behind, people who now likely had little to no inkling that the Stargate even existed. Jahnavi seemed not to have considered why the Wraith used to fly outside the valley.

After his talk with Jahnavi, Lorne had been removed to a dungeon-like basement. On one side of the largish room was a row of prison cells. On the other side, equipment Lorne didn't know the nature of and didn't particularly want a closer look at. He could guess these were the tools of the Ntsevu scientists, which had eventually killed not only the N'we, but every Ntsevu they had attempted to infuse with "the power" that the N'we naturally possessed as part of their genetic code.

"Do not worry," Jahnavi had told him, "As the only living N'we seen for over a hundred years, we will take special care to ensure your continued survival."

Lorne was not in any way reassured by this. He'd tried it before, and come to the conclusion that he didn't much care to be someone's lab experiment, particularly not where the ATA gene was involved. Far as he was concerned, that gene made him a puddle jumper pilot, and that was as far as it went. Now and then one of McKay's science geeks would nab him as the nearest available person with the ATA gene to activate a piece of technology for them, but generally he steered well clear of any lab or research area because he didn't want to become involved in any experiment.

He was willing to die in the line of duty if he had to, but -if he had to go- he'd rather die fighting, not being injected with a strange substance or by being blown up after activating some mystery device, or being eaten by some kind of weird living smoke, or some other more awful end he couldn't even begin to imagine. No, he'd much rather be shot by the enemy. Though, given his druthers, he'd actually prefer to just be alive and unscathed.

Lorne had warned Jahnavi that this was a mistake, and that she did not want to make an enemy of his people, but she had brushed him off. It wasn't surprising that she didn't take him seriously. After all, she had only seen four people, each of them trying his best to appear friendly. She had never seen the people of Atlantis when they were pissed off, and Lorne couldn't risk a security breach by describing anything in detail. He dared not give her any information about technology she had not already seen, and certainly could not give her any idea as to the number of soldiers that Atlantis could bring against her if necessary. All he could say was that making them an enemy was the worst mistake she could ever make, and then had to leave it to her imagination, which was apparently limited.

So far, Jahnavi's scientists had only drawn blood and then left Lorne alone, evidently going to work in a lab somewhere on a level above where he was imprisoned. Perhaps this equipment down here was obsolete. Lorne certainly hoped so, because it looked more like medieval torture tools from a bad movie than medical equipment, and he would just as soon never find out what it was for.

Still, for the moment Lorne remained not unduly worried. Though not reassured by Jahnavi's assertion that he would not be harmed more than necessary, Lorne did know she was telling the truth. He was the only one of his kind here, and Jahnavi's people had already killed all the N'we once; they would be more cautious now, especially seeing as they had taken a huge risk in "acquiring" Lorne, and Jahnavi clearly knew it, even if she refused to admit it. There was fear in her eyes when Lorne had warned her not to make an enemy of his people, even though she had been verbally dismissive.

For the moment at least, the Ntsevu wanted him alive. In the meantime, Reed and the others would be returning to Atlantis with their report. It would not be long before Dr. Weir and Col. Sheppard had prepared their response to the offense of one of their own being held captive. Lorne might be uncomfortable and getting tired of having his blood drawn, but for now he was relatively safe.

There might come a time when he should worry, but the time wasn't now. For now, the only thing he really had to contend with was boredom. That was something they never told you about being held prisoner. There was a lot of waiting around in a small box with nothing to do. Having exhausted the entertainment potential of pacing fairly rapidly, Lorne had decided to sleep, or at least try to.

This wasn't the first time he'd been locked up, he knew how it worked. There was nothing he could do just now except for wait, so he might as well just relax and settle in for the long haul.

* * *

"Since they were so interested in learning how the Stargate works before all this started, it seemed like the thing to do was wait for them to go before activating it, and then gating to some other planet before we came back here," Reed said, having spent the last several minutes filling in Elizabeth on what had happened.

John was also there, along with his entire team.

Though neither Ronon nor Teyla were part of the official command structure, John considered them not only part of his team, but also his security force on Atlantis, as well as his advisers. Not that he ever said as much. He just treated them that way, and they responded, right along with everybody else. He'd had to battle to secure his stance that he didn't want to be part of any meeting purposely excluding a member of his team but -once he'd won- the victory was final.

"Sounds like everything changed the second they found out Lorne has the ATA gene," John said, purposely stating the obvious just to be sure everyone was on the same page.

"That's odd," Rodney observed, "Usually when people see the ATA gene at work, they declare somebody royalty or even a god. They don't usually arrest them for it."

"Some people are afraid of things which are beyond their understanding," Teyla ventured, "Perhaps they were alarmed by the sight of such power and responded out of fear."

"They understood enough to realize Major Lorne was telling the truth when he said the lights came on automatically," Rodney said, glancing at Reed for confirmation, even though the man had already said as much.

"They tested each of us," Reed confirmed, "And then they just seemed to lose interest, other than making sure we left the planet unarmed. But I think that was to insure we couldn't come back for the Major. At least, not for a little while."

"Sounds like there's more at work here than fear," Rodney concluded.

"It sounds less like an arrest and more like a capture," Ronon grunted, speaking for the first time.

"You mean like instead of arresting him because he did something dangerous or offensive, they captured him because he had something they wanted?" John inquired.

"Exactly," Ronon said.

"The power to operate Ancient technology," Rodney stated the obvious, but it was clear from his expression that his mind was working on the less obvious, "It's that Ancient building. Whatever it's for, whatever it does, those people know about it, and it's worth potentially going to war over."

"How do you figure?" John asked.

"They saw the weapons Lorne's team were carrying, the technology. They had to know there were more than four men, and that the three they let go would immediately come back and report to their superiors. Lorne would have tried to warn them that was a mistake."

"He wouldn't have given them any idea of our numbers of firepower," John said.

"No," Rodney agreed, "But what he would do was make it very clear that we don't appreciate having our people kidnapped. They could figure out the rest for themselves, enough to realize they were taking a massive risk by holding Lorne against his will."

"This Ancient structure," Teyla said slowly, "Is it possible it could be a... shield or perhaps a weapon to be used against the Wraith? Access to such a weapon would be well worth the risk of war."

"It probably is... or was," Rodney nodded, "There's no telling how much power it has left. For all we know, turning on the lights may be the most it can do."

"Or maybe," Elizabeth said evenly, "It has a ZPM to power it. This could turn out to be a huge opportunity."

Rodney frowned unhappily, "I seem to recall being trapped in a collapsing basement last time we had such an opportunity."

"I think you're both forgetting something important," John interjected.

"Oh? What?" Elizabeth asked.

"Major Lorne," John reminded them gently.

"We're not... forgetting him," Rodney said, not quite able to meet John's eyes.

Elizabeth was silent for a moment before she said, "Of course the priority is getting the Major back, but there are other angles which need to be considered. It may yet be possible to come to a peaceful solution, if you're willing to take the time to consider it."

"Negotiating is not my strong suit," John replied, "You know that."

"Yes, I do know that," Elizabeth said, "But I suggest that you try it."

"Their first response when they saw we had something they wanted was to take our people prisoner," John protested, "I think negotiating was off the table the second they decided to do that."

"We don't need more enemies, Colonel," Elizabeth said, in a tone that suggested this was final, "If that is what it takes to get Major Lorne back, so be it, but don't make a war where there doesn't have to be one. They are probably frightened. Perhaps not of us, but of the Wraith. Perhaps they view Major Lorne as their last hope for survival. If he were allowed to leave, they had no guarantee he would ever return."

"And what about the Genii?" John challenged, "They were just trying to survive too. I don't seem to recall that ending with us being friends."

Elizabeth sighed, "I see your point, John. Do you see mine?"

"Yes, ma'am," John said evenly, "I do."

"Good," Elizabeth said, then looked at him straight on, "Do whatever you have to, but bring Major Lorne home. I want him back, Colonel."

A small smile tugged at John's face, a combination of amusement and deadly serious intent in his eyes as he responded, "Yes, ma'am."


	4. Chapter 4

Lorne had so far not put up much of a fuss with the people who'd come to examine him and take samples. There didn't seem to be much of a point for a few reasons.

One was the presence of security forces, who were armed and outnumbered him. Assuming he escaped, he could theoretically get home despite the loss of his GDO, by going to either a planet with allies or possibly one where a mission was scheduled, but he wasn't especially eager to go charging out into unfamiliar wilderness, trying to duck and dodge the people who would no doubt be chasing him all the way to the Stargate. He wasn't unwilling to do that if he had to, but just now it didn't really seem like he had to, which made it a foolish and unnecessary risk.

Another factor to consider was simply that -so far- the Ntsevu had not actually hurt him, or any of his team. That might change if he started bucking them, they might hurt him in trying to restrain him, or he might hurt them in attempting to resist, compromising any chance of this being resolved without bloodshed. It seemed entirely possible that Queen Jahnavi could be convinced that the people of Atlantis were actually willing to help her without her having to use force on them. If Lorne went around hurting and killing her people, she would be less open to a peaceful resolution. If there was power in that temple that could be used, the people of Atlantis could benefit from it, even if only by being able to send refugees to a protected world. Even if that was not the case, the fact was that there were only so many people on the Atlantis expedition, and replacing equipment and manpower was a lengthy and tedious process, even aside from the value of individual human lives. Lorne didn't want to start any killing, though he was willing to finish it if it did get started.

If there was any violence to be done, Lorne wanted every advantage. So far, he was building a reputation for being peaceful as a lamb. He had avoided confrontation even when he was armed, and now he passively cooperated. If and when the time came to fight, the Ntsevu would not expect it from him because he'd shown them no aggression of any sort. Lorne knew he was good at playing harmless. He'd even had COs in the past who had doubted his courage because he simply gave the impression of not being terribly serious. He was a relaxed sort of a guy, who didn't tend to get offended, and seemed not to even be particularly competitive most of the time. His own people mistook him for a pushover at times, so he could definitely use that misconception to his advantage against people who didn't know him. The element of surprise was a powerful advantage, even if it was only a small surprise, such as this particular sheep having teeth like a wolf.

The time came sooner than Lorne expected.

One of the scientists came down the stairs, and she was alone. Lorne was not immediately concerned, even though it was a change in the established pattern. It actually wasn't until she stopped in front of her cell and withdrew one of the M9s taken off Lorne and his team from her lab coat that he realized something was up, something that should probably worry him a little.

"You really don't need to perform that experiment," Lorne said quietly, feigning a levity he did not feel and holding his hands away from him while slowly standing up from where he'd been sitting, "If you shoot me, I _will_ bleed, I assure you."

"Shut up," she spat, waving the muzzle of the gun in a shooing gesture, "And get up against the wall."

"Okay," Lorne said, cooperatively backing up to the back wall of the cell, "Now what?"

Instead of answering, she used her free hand to produce a set of keys from another lab coat pocket.

This Lorne regarded as ominous. It was clear this woman wanted quiet, and she had come here alone. It was likely she was acting as an individual, and not as the Queen's scientist. And there was no telling what someone acting independently might be up to. She could be here to kill him. Or she could be here to set him free. Or her purpose might be something harder to imagine.

Lorne sized her up. He was definitely bigger and heavier than she, though she was not an especially small woman. He guessed that, in a fight, her long black hair would be a hindrance flowing freely as it was now. She didn't look like a fighter, but there was a determined, almost desperate look in her dark eyes that Lorne recognized as dangerous. And besides, she was holding the M9, though whether she really knew how to use it or not was anybody's guess. Certainly she had no trigger discipline, placing her finger directly on the trigger instead of along the side of the weapon or on the guard.

Once the door was open, she gestured with the muzzle of the weapon again, stepping back from the door way and supplementing the visual instruction with the single word, "Move."

Lorne regarded her for a moment before complying. He suspected she really didn't want to use that M9, even if she did know how, because she was clearly attempting to limit noise. What he didn't know yet was if she wished him harm, or merely believed that the presence of an evident threat was the only way she could secure his cooperation. Not knowing her motives made it impossible to say for sure whether he should ignore her and stay here or obey her. In the face of the M9 and her unknown intent, Lorne chose to exit the cell and go where she pointed, for now at least.

Even if he did find himself needing to escape her, it would be a lot easier outside of the locked cell. Since she was directing him up the stairs, he knew there would be hallways and rooms with more than one door, providing him with more than one option to make his exit if he needed to leave in a hurry, not to mention windows out of which he could look to see how things stood outside the building.

Before he set foot on the stairs, however, he felt the need to turn to her and make an appeal, just in case she _did_ want him dead, "My people will be coming to look for me. It's really gonna piss 'em off if I'm dead when they get here."

"Shut up," she said, "Up the stairs. _Now_."

"Okay..." Lorne said slowly, with an indifferent shrug, "But don't say I didn't warn you."

He took his time going up the stairs, checking over his shoulder to see if the woman would follow him closely. She apparently had more sense than that, and stayed well back, taking full advantage of the fact that she had an effective range weapon to ensure Lorne's continued obedience even several feet away.

"What's your name, anyway?" Lorne asked conversationally.

If he could get her to talk, he might get closer to finding out what her objective was. He might also get her to drop her guard a little if he made nice with her. Any advantage was worth getting. Ideally, of course, she would simply drop the threatening weapon, but as a second choice Lorne would take her becoming careless because she stopped regarding him as dangerous.

"My name is Rasika," she answered, which sort of surprised him because he'd really expected her to just tell him to shut up again, "Stop at the top of the stairs."

He did as she asked, stopping at the head of the stairs and turning to watch Rasika as she cautiously climbed up after him. She stopped several steps from the top, evidently thinking only of staying out of arm's reach and not realizing how easy it would be for Lorne to leap from the top of the stairs and tackle her on the way down. However, he didn't see his situation as dire enough for that sort of a desperate act. Too easy to break something tumbling down the stairs, too easy for the gun to go off and hurt somebody (particularly him). If he could have been sure Rasika intended ill for him, then maybe... but he could not be sure. Not yet. There were safer places to have a fight, and surer ways to wrest control from her. Lorne was a soldier, and that meant being able to weigh the potentials of risk and reward in a situation just like this one, and at least probably come out with the right answer.

At the top of the stairs was an archway instead of a door. Rasika directed Lorne to go through it slowly, and to stay where she could see him. As if she thought she could stop him from diving to either side of the door, where she would be unable to shoot him if he chose not to listen. But there was little percentage in doing so, and Lorne was smart enough to know it, so he did as she asked.

They turned right down the hall, passed by several rooms that looked like they were outfitted as labs studying all sorts of different things; they had open doors and no people inside. Finally they reached the room Rasika wanted, and she directed Lorne to enter it. When she followed, she closed the door behind her. She'd been in something of a hurry to get here, telling Lorne to move more quickly on the way, as though she was afraid someone would see them.

Lorne looked around the room. The walls were lined with a series of long wooden tables, each covered in vials and beakers and other, less identifiable scientific paraphernalia that looked as if it dealt primarily in chemistry. Littered about the place were piles of research notes and books, seemingly placed at random to simply fill up the space, but probably actually highly organized in some fashion. In the center of the room was a chair that dimly reminded Lorne of a dentist's chair, except it had straps that were clearly meant to lock the occupant into place and prevent their escaping.

His mind flashed back to that conversation with Jahnavi where she had confessed that every N'we had eventually been killed by the people studying them. He had no intention of going into that chair without a fight, and if Rasika hoped that little gun was enough to make him go there quietly, she had a lot to learn about him.

While Lorne was taking in the aspect of the room, Rasika went quickly to the table nearest the door and picked up a syringe. She was quick and quiet when she moved for him, and her timing was good because he was distracted by the room and its contents, but the second the needle touched the skin at the back of the upper part of his left arm, Lorne reacted.

It was pure reflex to turn, strike her wrist with the edge of his left hand to knock the syringe out of her grip, then to follow through by grabbing her other wrist with his right hand and twisting it, attempting to force her to drop the M9 she was still carrying; at the very least ensuring the weapon was aimed strictly downward. Rasika squeaked when Lorne hit her wrist, and cried out when he grabbed her.

They locked eyes as he completed he turn, and he saw more than surprise in her gaze. There was fear there as well. Just now, she had good reason to be afraid. Depending on how this little dance played out, Lorne might wind up killing her.

It was a convenient fantasy that disabling an opponent without killing or even maiming was always an option, but reality was far more harsh. When you found yourself fighting for your life, you had to take the opportunities you were given in the battle, and sometimes those were only kill options. This was especially true when you were in an enemy compound, with more adversaries potentially on the way.

Rasika responded to Lorne's attack, refusing to let go of the M9. She lowered her body and turned in the direction Lorne was twisting her wrist, moving towards him at the same time. This effectively took the tension off of her wrist. She stepped past Lorne, and he knew it was her intention to slip free and either deliver a blow from behind or else bring the M9 back into the picture.

Lorne rotated with her. By the time she snapped her wrist free of his grip, he'd turned to face her. He struck the hand she was using to grip the M9 in the same way as he'd struck her other wrist earlier. The weapon clattered to the floor, and Lorne immediately felt better because it lowered the stakes somewhat, and raised his chances of coming out of this altercation relatively unscathed.

Rasika's entire demeanor changed at the loss of the M9. It had become clear in the handful of seconds they'd been fighting that she was a rank amateur, and had about as much ability against Lorne as he himself had against Ronon or Teyla. The second she lost control of the M9, she sought distance from Lorne. Given her size and ability, that might've been a smart move, if that didn't give Lorne room to retrieve the M9 from the floor and come back up with it.

As he stood back up though, he felt a wash of dizziness, and a stinging on his arm where Rasika had stuck him with the needle of the syringe. That told him he hadn't reacted fast enough. Whatever she'd meant to inject him with, she'd gotten at least some of it in.

"What the hell did you do?" Lorne demanded, raising the M9 and aiming for Rasika, which stopped her in her tracks where she'd been edging behind the chair, trying to get away.

"Not nearly enough," Rasika snarled furiously, but her voice trembled, betraying the fear beneath the surge of anger.

The sound of footsteps out in the hall seemed to pierce Lorne's consciousness. It wasn't just the signal that he had to make a decision immediately. They sounded too loud, and seemed to reverberate in his head. Had he been poisoned? Sedated? He didn't get the impression Rasika intended to tell him.

He wanted to demand to know what he'd ever done to her to make her look at him with the hate she now revealed amidst the fear and anger in her eyes. But he didn't have the time. Those footsteps weren't just walking. They were coming to investigate the noise Rasika had made.

Lorne could not be sure Rasika had acted alone. Even if she had, everything in him rebelled against the very idea of letting himself be disarmed and locked back up now that he was free. He'd started fighting, and disengaging from that mode wasn't easy, especially now he was hurt. His impulse was to fight or to run, not to surrender. In no shape for a fight, he chose the other option.

Rather than leave through the door he'd entered the room through, Lorne brushed past Rasika and went to the door at the opposite end of the room. He found it was unlocked, opened it and saw another room beyond this one, about twice the size but with much the same sort of equipment. There were two doors aside from the one he'd opened, and Lorne hoped one of them wasn't a closet.

The door behind him banged open and someone shouted at him to stop. Lorne went through the door he'd opened and shut it, bolting across the large room for the nearest door. This one turned out to be a closet. By the time Lorne was headed for the last door, his pursuers had reached the room. They started to open the door Lorne had closed behind him, and he fired a warning shot to delay them. It bought him the seconds he needed to get through the next door and bolt out into an unfamiliar hallway.

The running had brought on a stronger wave of dizziness, which had exploded into a headache that seemed to be making his brain pulse. He knew that wasn't what was happening, but that's what it felt like, and it was already starting to disorient him. He was in trouble, and he knew it.

Lorne wanted _out_.

* * *

Karka and Avyan had of course heard what had happened with the strangers. Already on thin ice after having lobbied for their position studying the Stargate close up, Karka wasn't eager to have an audience with the Queen over some strangers she barely knew. But Avyan, in his quiet way, convinced her it needed to be done. As not studying the Stargate would be a mistake, so too was the way that the strangers had been handled. At Avyan's urging, Karka asked for and was granted an audience.

Avyan went with her in a show of support, but he said nothing. Always unnerved in the presence of the queen, it was as much as he could do just to come along. That meant it was up to Karka to make her case to Queen Jahnavi. It would have been easier for Avyan, who had not been so off-put by the informal and jocular manner with which the strangers behaved as Karka had been.

"My Queen," Karka had begun, "I do not believe we are handling the situation with the star travelers in the ideal fashion."

Karka had learned that Jahnavi respected a straight-forward approach, no circling the issue and certainly no coating it with frosting. Jahnavi also did not require her subjects to agree with her decisions, only that they follow her orders. No harm would come to Karka for her opposing opinion and -having granted the audience- Jahnavi would now allow Karka to finish making her case.

But there was a guarded look in her fair queen's blue eyes, and Karka could see that this was not an issue Jahnavi wished to discuss. It was not the first time Karka had spoken of something Jahnavi would just as soon not have talked about, so it did not daunt her. Much.

"Avyan and I traveled with them for a day and a night and part of another day," Karka reminded her queen, "And in that time we came to know them somewhat. Despite their attire and weapons, we found them to be gentle and patient in their dealings with us and the hunting tribe with which we spent the night. They could have come to us and demanded we bring them here at gunpoint, but they did not. You saw how they were armed, but surely you must also have seen that they came not with the promise of tyranny on their part, but the offer of fair trade. They were even willing to share what they knew of the Stargate, to help us defend ourselves and escape from the Wraith."

"I am aware of that," Jahnavi said curtly, and it was quite clear she wanted to hear no more of this.

But Jahnavi issued no warning or command for Karka to be silent, and so Karka forged on.

"Given their disposition towards us from the start, and the weapons at their command, I submit that disarming them, arresting one and exiling the others was neither wise nor just. Beyond my own speculation, we have the word of Major Lorne, and he does not strike me as a liar. More of them will come. And they will be very angry. Please, your Majesty, this will not end well for us if he continue on this course. But perhaps we can undo the damage we have done by releasing Major Lorne and letting him return to his people."

"NO!" Jahnavi all but shouted, banging her fist on the arm of her throne chair, "He is N'we, something we have not seen here in far too long. The N'we are our salvation. We cannot risk letting him go, not when he may well be the last of his kind, and our final hope."

"If we get the Stargate to function, we will have no need of the N'we," Karka replied, "And -if we do not release him- it is possible we will bring about a doom which will surpass the Wraith. We do not know what these people may do when provoked. They have fought the Wraith, and _won_."

"So they say," Jahnavi said, her eyes half-closed and glittering, a sign of annoyance.

"I believe them," Karka responded, "If we make enemies of them, they will destroy us."

"That is a risk we must take," Jahnavi said coldly, then her voice softened, "Karka... we are speaking of the N'we, those who have power over the Temple itself. If we had that, we would have no need to leave our home. We could stay."

"So why not allow Major Lorne to operate the Temple?"

"Even if he should agree, we cannot trust an outsider with our safety. We must secure the power for ourselves. And we will. Once we have done so, Major Lorne can go."

"If he survives," Avyan's voice startled them both, for he had never spoken in the Queen's presence.

Jahnavi shifted her gaze from Karka to Avyan, who managed somehow to meet her eyes unflinchingly.

"We all know that it is very possible he will not," Avyan continued, "if he dies, we may learn nothing, and yet still bring upon ourselves the wrath of the star travelers who have the power to challenge the Wraith."

Before Jahnavi could respond, one of her soldiers came rushing into the throne room. Hurriedly he crossed the room and knelt before her respectfully, before rising and giving his report.

"My Queen, the star traveler has escaped."


	5. Chapter 5

"Escaped?" Jahnavi asked, feeling a sense of unreality, "How?"

"We do not know. Not yet," the soldier answered, "He was discovered attacking Lady Rasika in her laboratory. Guards pursued him, but he evaded them."

"Is the Lady Rasika injured?" Jahnavi inquired.

"No, merely frightened. Her cries attracted the guards swiftly," the soldier told her, "Majesty, the star traveler has retrieved one of his weapons. He fired on the guards pursuing him."

Jahnavi noticed Karka and Avyan exchanging alarmed looks, but they had the decorum to remain silent. Though Karka had clearly not imagined this scenario, it was exactly this sort of thing she had been attempting to warn Jahnavi about. These star travelers were not Jahnavi's subjects. They were strangers, with unknown abilities and inclinations.

As far as Jahnavi could see, there was no sensible reason for Major Lorne to attack Rasika. In fact, he should not even have been particularly aware of her, since she sent her assistants to retrieve whatever samples she needed. Had Major Lorne happened upon Rasika? Or had he somehow known she was the foremost expert on the N'we and sought to kill her for that reason? Thwarted, where would he go next? He had no friends or family here, no home or familiar haunt. Where would he go? What would he do?

Jahnavi let none of these questions or fears show as she asked if the guards had been injured.

"One blocked his path on a stairwell," the soldier replied, "The star traveler assaulted him physically. The guard was wounded in the fall down the stairs."

But he had not been shot by the star traveler. Why not? Had the weapon reached its limit of ammunition by that time? Had it malfunctioned? Or had Major Lorne made a decision to tackle the guard instead of firing on him? Too many questions, no means of finding answers.

"Do you know where he is now?" Jahnavi asked.

The soldier shook his head unhappily, "Once clear of the science building, he fled towards the woods. We are pursuing him, but so far without success. He moves swiftly, like a member of a hunter tribe."

It was well known among the Ntsevu that no one could navigate the forest like the hunters could. Most of Jahnavi's soldiers were picked from people in the city, and the guards were chosen from those. Hunters were not warriors, but they were swift and agile and highly skilled trackers.

"Contact the hunters and secure as many of them as you can to aid in the search," Jahnavi commanded, "I want Major Lorne found. Quickly!"

"When he is found, he may resist us," the soldier said, making an indirect request to be given leave to use any means necessary to bring Major Lorne down.

"He is N'we," Jahnavi reminded him, "Perhaps the last of his kind. We need him _alive_."

"Yes, my Queen," the soldier bowed, and then hurried off to carry out her orders.

After he was gone, Jahnavi returned her attention to Karka, who had remained respectfully silent.

"It seems there is no more argument to be made," Jahnavi said, "At least, not until we have recaptured Major Lorne."

"My Queen," Karka answered, "The argument is more urgent than ever. Now when his people come, they will find he is not here. If there anger would have been great at his being held captive, how much greater will it be if they believe we have killed him and done away with his body?"

While Jahnavi was considering a response to this, another soldier came in as hurriedly as the first had. He too knelt before her and then gave his report.

"My Queen, the guard you set on watch in the Temple tower has seen the Stargate activate, and men come through it to stand on Ring Hill. The star travelers have arrived, and in greater numbers than before."

"How are they armed?" Jahnavi inquired, "And in how many numbers?"

"I do not know," the soldier replied, "They are too distant to get a good view."

"There are hunters being gathered to aid in the search for Major Lorne," Jahnavi told the soldier, "Take one of them and reassign him to get a closer look at them. Tell him to remain hidden. If they notice his presence, they will probably kill him. But I must know about their numbers, their weapons, and their disposition towards us."

"Yes, my Queen," the soldier bowed and took off to do her bidding.

* * *

Lorne's tumble down the stairs with one of the security men had not been as coordinated as he'd intended, and he'd banged into more hard surfaces on the way down than he would have preferred. Still, he'd managed to get up and walk away from it, which was more than he could say for the security man, who had been at the least unconscious when Lorne left him, possibly worse.

He couldn't feel too badly about anybody he hurt on the way out, seeing as they were attacking him and trying to stop him from leaving. It was about survival now. However, so far, there had been no killing, and Lorne preferred to keep it that way as long as it remained feasible.

This was not merely out of a disinclination to kill if he didn't have to, but also because he was growing increasingly disoriented, and his vision was skewing from time to time. It was possible he could encounter friendlies and not even recognize them. If he established in his mind the rule to not kill, he could avoid the eventual hazard of inadvertently doing in one of his own guys by the time that became a possible issue. Assuming he lived that long, because he had his doubts about that.

In real pain now and losing his sense of direction and purpose, Lorne knew he had to find somewhere he could stop and rest, try to recover. At least the Ntsevu did not appear to have dogs, and their soldiers were nowhere near as competent as Air Force personnel.

Lorne had originally been trained as a pilot. He had training in addition to that, of course, but he'd received even more when he'd joined the Stargate program. One thing he knew how to do was move around in a forest setting. A huge number of the worlds SG-teams visited were exactly this type of forest, and Lorne was well prepared for it. He didn't know this forest, but he knew this landscape.

What he needed, and would have needed regardless of the terrain, was a rockier area, or water source, or something like that. Somewhere he could go that would not leave tracks. He didn't know if the Ntsevu had any good trackers in their military force, but he knew they had tribes running around that reminded him of Teyla's people, and he'd learned a thing or two from the hunters among her people about both following tracks and concealing them. There was a good chance someone would think to contact the Ntsevu hunters now the pursuit had gone into their domain.

When Lorne was a child, his friends had called him crazy. It wasn't because he spouted nonsense or anything like that. It was because he wasn't afraid when they thought he should be. Because they were all young boys, reckless as any average youths, that was saying something. Lorne supposed this was one of those times they would have told him he should be scared. But he wasn't frightened, or even particularly worried. He was concerned, yes, but not really worried.

After losing his balance and taking a tumble down a hill, Lorne calmly picked himself up, brushed himself off, regained his sense of direction, and kept going.

He had not run into the forest blindly, but with purpose. He was aiming for the nearest mountain slopes. He could not climb them, and had no illusions about that. But the rocky terrain would prevent his leaving tracks. Climbing a little way up would give him a view of the area. He had a secondary objective, and that was the Stargate, but there was a helluva lot of land between him and it, and the Ntsevu were sure to know that's where he was trying to get to.

Even without his GDO, it was the most (and really only) practical place for him to go now he wasn't being held captive. He could 'Gate to another world, preferably one with a scheduled mission, or perhaps one with allies of the Atlantis expedition. It was even possible that Sheppard had already come through and was looking for him, in which case he might meet up with the Colonel on the way there.

But since he could not risk taking the Hunter's Road, he needed to get an idea of where he was going. He also needed somewhere he could rest that he could conceal himself but see anybody coming after him from a distance. The mountains would provide that as well, if he reached them fast enough. He could not afford to be caught on the open ground at the foot of the mountains when the Ntsevu caught up to him. He needed to be well up them, hidden among the ledges and rocks.

Lorne didn't know it, but he had actually overestimated the ability of the Ntsevu to mobilize quickly, because he'd forgotten one very important detail: they had no radios. Unless and until people from the city went out to speak with the tribes, nobody in the forest would know there was any need to pursue Lorne. None of the hunters or gatherers who were out would even know Lorne had arrived on the planet at all, much less anything that had happened since.

But Lorne's training after he joined the Stargate program had prepared him to cope with aliens such as the Goa'uld, who in all their technologies seemed equal or superior to Earth. His later experiences in warfare had been against the Wraith, who also possessed powerful technology and abilities the likes of which he'd never seen. Lorne was prepared to deal with adversaries who were superhuman, which left him slightly overqualified for the current challenge he faced.

But where he held an advantage, he also had disadvantages. Not the least of which was the poisoning. There was also the fact that he carried nothing of his gear with him currently, unless one counted his half-empty M9 and his boots. He had no food or water, and no familiarity with this location.

Lorne was in trouble, and he knew it, but he wasn't worried. Not yet.

* * *

"Do you feel like we're being followed?" Rodney asked nervously, looking at the trees on either side of the road, and then glancing over his shoulder, "Because I feel like we're being followed."

"Calm down, Rodney," John muttered, "We're not being followed."

"Well it sure feels like it," Rodney said.

"That's called paranoia," John told him.

"Oh ha-ha, very funny," Rodney spat sarcastically, "I'm being serious here."

"So am I," John replied.

"Well..." there was a lengthy pause before Rodney thought up a retort, "Better paranoid than dead."

"Agreed," John said, "But we're still not being followed."

"How can you be so sure?" Rodney asked, casting uneasy glances at the shadows.

"Well, first off, I've been listening instead of babbling," John said, giving Rodney a withering glare, which his friend chose to ignore, "Secondly, Ronon would know if somebody was following us before I would. Does he look worried to you?"

John nodded towards Ronon, who was on the point position as per usual.

"No," Rodney admitted, "But if somebody was following us, how would he be able to tell from up there?"

"That's why we have a rearguard," John replied, jerking his thumb in Teyla's direction.

She was following them several paces back, moving with more caution than the landscape warranted for the precise reason that she was looking and listening for anything or anyone who might be attempting to stalk them. Rodney knew the formation perfectly well, this was an old conversation. The man was a chronic worrier, but often what he _acted_ like he was worried about and what he was _actually_ worried about were two very different things.

"I still think we should've brought more people with us," Rodney complained.

"Elizabeth didn't want us starting a war if we could help it," John replied, "Dorsey and Lorne's teams will come after us if we need them."

Though Lorne was absent, since his team was unscathed and mad as hell about their lost commander, they were allowed to come along. John had intentionally left them at the 'Gate to make sure they didn't start any trouble. But if a fight came, Lorne's team was John's favorite backup, even without the Major there to lead them.

"They'll be a day behind us," Rodney pointed out.

"So don't piss off the natives," John advised, "And stay outta that 'temple'."

By all evidence, Lorne had been locked up specifically because he possessed the ATA gene. John and Rodney both did as well, and it certainly wouldn't do for the natives to find that out. That would be bad news all around, based on the experience Lorne and his team had already had with these people. Suddenly John and Rodney would be a rare commodity, instead of visitors from another world. Everything had seemed to be going well until the Ntsevu found out that Lorne had the ATA gene.

Obviously that wasn't the Major's fault, but John fully intended to avoid that particular pitfall if it was at all possible. He also intended to make it abundantly clear that any chance of friendly relations between the people of Atlantis and the Ntsevu depended on their returning Lorne in one piece.

"I piss off everyone," Rodney said, as if John needed the reminder, "That's just how I'm built."

Rodney was an arrogant, abrasive person. In the few years John had known him, Rodney appeared to be gradually becoming aware of this, but seemed entirely helpless at doing anything about it. John had different social weaknesses, but he understood Rodney's struggle when it came to trying to be someone better than who he'd been. It was part of why they got along so well. Neither of them was built to get along with "normal" people, and they had few friends aside from those they'd made since coming to Atlantis, because they both had a way of alienating those closest to them one way or another.

Unfortunately, all the understanding and empathy in the world couldn't save Rodney from himself. He was sure to say something abusive sounding, because that was how he was. John would just have to hope whatever it was wouldn't offend the Ntsevu too badly. If it did, he was prepared to point out that they'd taken one of his people captive against his will, and that was far more offensive than anything that could possibly come out of Rodney's mouth. It was a solid defense.

At least, he hoped it was.

"You're sure nobody's following us?" Rodney asked.

John sighed irritably and turned to look at Rodney before reassuring him for the thousandth time that no, they were not being followed. But he never got there, because when he turned he caught a flicker of movement in the brush alongside the road, and he froze in his tracks.

Teyla saw him stop, and she also halted. Rodney stopped as well, and for once was silent. John looked ahead to check where Ronon was, only to find that the big Satedan had disappeared. Before he could decide what that meant, there was a cry of fear in the brush, and a moment later Ronon emerged, carrying a small man by the arms. He set the man down in front of John.

The wiry little man was dressed as tribesmen usually were in the Pegasus Galaxy, in sleeveless clothing made from animal hide. He had dark eyes and dark skin and appeared to be very frightened.

"I _told_ you someone was following us," Rodney said smugly, but he looked pretty surprised.

"Only for the last minute or so," Ronon told him, "You've been complaining a lot longer than that."

A meek-voiced, "Oh," was Rodney's only response to this.

* * *

Lorne wasn't a long way above ground level, hardly more than an average flight of stairs. But he had a better view from there than he had from the ground, and he was about spent in any case. Rasika had come to him in the early morning, before the sun was even up. It was now late in the afternoon, despite the planet's having a longer day/night cycle than that of Earth, about the same length as Lantea actually.

During his short stay in the Queen's prison, Lorne had not been unduly mistreated, fed and watered at regular intervals. But he'd had nothing of either food or water since the night before, and that -especially the latter- was beginning to tell on him, particularly combined with whatever toxin Rasika had put into his system. He was about done in, and needed to rest, not just for a minute or two to catch his breath, but for a good long while. That might even be more urgent at present than finding water.

Out from under the shade cover of the trees, the sun was scorching hot today, and Lorne had found it had cooked the rocks pretty good too when he'd had to put his hands on them while climbing.

Now he crouched low on a ledge, assessing his surroundings.

The prevalence of trees limited his ability to see the ground, but they also provided clues. In the distance he could see where there was sudden dearth of trees, signifying the location of the hill with the Stargate. Nearer, he could see several areas where the trees thinned, offering the possibility of a water source, though it was possible the clearings were there for a different reason.

On his first night on the planet, Lorne had noticed the hunter-gatherer campfires after nightfall. While individuals could be found almost anywhere, the actual campsites would be within a reasonable distance of water. They had to be, with mothers, elderly and children in their midst. With their most advanced water hauling technology being buckets, camping near water was the only practical option.

If Lorne stayed on the mountainside, at nightfall the campfires would give him a better idea of where to find water. It was a long wait for a drink, but Lorne wasn't sure he could travel much farther without a break in any case, and certainly bumbling around in the woods making poorly educated guesses about where water might be wouldn't get him far. He'd run out of steam or be caught for sure.

It irritated him that he couldn't get a real look at the hill with the Stargate, or the road from there to the Ntsevu city from his position, but he wasn't sure there was an angle where he could really see and -if there was- it would definitely be a lot higher up than he was at present.

He turned away from the forest, and scanned the mountainside. He'd vastly underestimated the power of the sun beyond the shade of the forest, and now he was having to rethink what constituted shelter. He had to not only be out of view of those below, and any who might clamber around on the mountainside near where he'd started up, but also be sheltered from the direct sunlight, which was a much taller order, and the mountainside didn't offer much that looked promising.

Very probably _somewhere_ on the sides of these mountains, there were places where chunks of rock had broken or eroded or fallen into concave areas that made good shelter, but there were none to be seen in Lorne's present field of vision, and he couldn't just circle the valley in search of a cave that might or might not be there. God, this headache was killing him.

 _Come on, Lorne. Focus. See your options. Use what you've got._

He took another look around, and came to a decision. And then, cautiously, Lorne started back down the mountain, heading back into the forest at a different point from where he'd exited.


	6. Chapter 6

The hunter Ronon had caught wasn't much use. He was a young man and he explained with some pride that he had been among the very few who were brave enough to approach John's team after they were told how dangerous the strangers might be. Ronon pointed out that he'd been dumb enough to get caught, so those who hadn't volunteered were probably wiser.

The name of the hunter was Mitali, and once he got over his initial fear that John would kill him outright, he became obviously curious about where John and the others had come from, how they had gotten here, and why they were a danger to the Ntsevu. Obviously, he knew nothing of where Lorne was or what had happened to him. When questioned on this, Mitali could only shrug.

"I know of no one by that name," he said, "I am sorry."

John was annoyed, but hardly surprised. If Queen Jahnavi had told Mitali why the people of Atlantis were miffed with her, it was possible he might have had the good sense not to try and spy on them. It would not have been ridiculous for them to see him as a threat, and to kill him the moment they became aware of him. Had Ronon not gone into the bushes after him, it was possible that just that might have happened.

"How did you know your queen wanted us followed?" Rodney inquired, "We just got here, there's no way anybody could have gotten from the city all the way out here that fast."

"A message came to my village," Mitali replied.

"How?" Rodney pressed.

Mitali then produced a small bird from under a part of his clothing that, aside from its size and being jet black, bore a striking resemblance to a pigeon, "This bird is trained to fly to my village's chief when set free. There are many such birds in the city, each one trained to seek out a particular village chief. Every village likewise has a bird trained to fly to someone in the city."

"Homing pigeons," John remarked.

"Notebirds," Mitali corrected, and John suppressed a smirk at the name.

"They look for a person? Not a place?" Rodney inquired, obviously puzzled.

Mitali opened his mouth to answer, but John decided that it would be a waste of time. He didn't really care how the birds were trained or what they did, what interested him was what they could do for _him_.

"If we went to your village," John said, before Mitali could begin to answer Rodney's question, "Could one of these notebirds carry a message to your queen?"

"It could..." Mitali replied hesitantly, "But I will not lead you to my village. I know you are dangerous, and you cannot hurt my people if you do not know where they are."

"So put the note on that bird and have your chief relay the message," John said, gesturing to the animal Mitali was holding, "I don't really care how the message gets delivered, just so long as it does."

"And what is this... message?" Mitali asked rather suspiciously.

"I want to let your queen know that we're not here to fight," John said, "We just want our man back, that's all."

"Alive," Rodney interjected.

"Yes," John agreed patiently, "We want him back _alive_."

"And if my queen should refuse you?" Mitali inquired.

"Well... then we'll have a problem," John said, "But we can talk about that when the time comes. I just want her to know that we're not coming into her city guns ablazin'. Not if we don't have to. But if her people attack us, we will defend ourselves, and she probably won't like the result."

"You want to send a threatening message to Queen Jahnavi?" Mitali asked in wide eyed horror.

"No," John told him, "I want her to know that we're still willing to talk, maybe even resume trade negotiations, if she'll listen to reason and give us back our man."

"I don't know..." Mitali said, looking dubious and wary.

"Look, which sounds more threatening," Rodney demanded irritably, "Four armed outsiders barging into the city that took one of their people prisoner unannounced, or a message that tells your queen that we're willing to do something besides blow the city to hell when we get there?"

Rodney's lack of tact for once had a good effect. Mitali thought the question over carefully, and then nodded, saying, "I will send this message. You will have to hope my chief does the same."

"Good enough," John said.

* * *

Unable to make any further progress in her attempts to change Queen Jahnavi's mind, Karka did manage to talk the Queen into allowing her and Avyan to accompany the soldiers and hunters. She did so by reminding the Queen that she and Avyan were both scientists, and that someone with their qualifications should be on hand to supervise and make sure no harm came to their "test subject". It was probable that Jahnavi saw right through this and knew Karka's interest in preserving the Major's health had nothing to do with his being N'we, and everything to do with his having come through the Stargate, but she allowed it anyway.

Having been living out in the wilderness, Karka and Avyan were quite a bit more fit than some of the other scientists, and they were also younger, and their youth granted them more strength. It made them the natural choice as supervisors, even though Rasika had also asked to go.

Seeing as the Major had assaulted Rasika in her own lab, Karka couldn't help but think that perhaps Rasika did not have his best interests in mind anymore. Karka still couldn't figure it.

How would the Major have even known where Rasika's lab was? Or had he come upon it accidentally? Why would he attack Rasika? Surely she wouldn't be foolish enough to try and fight him, more likely she would simply get out of his way. And how was it that he had not managed to hurt Rasika at all in attacking her? Surely he was as capable a fighter as the Queen's own soldiers. If Karka had not believed such before, knowing that he had wounded a guard and evaded the rest of them in his escape would have convinced her. So how was it that he had not killed Rasika if such had been his plan? And why had he fled to the forest, instead of taking the road for the Stargate, which would have been a faster and easier way to travel? Where was he going? And why?

It quickly became evident that, though he did not know this forest, the Major was able to move through it as if he were a hunter, traveling quickly in a surprisingly straight line. A few times he had taken detours to avoid crevices or impossibly thick tangles of brush, and he had also taken advantage of any rocks he could find that might conceal his tracks, which forced the hunters to stop and study the area, traveling in gradually wider circles around the point where they'd lost the tracks until they found them again. Slowing them down. But the hunters said he was only stopping for infrequent breathers, and otherwise was traveling as swiftly as was sensible. He knew somehow that they would not be fooled for long by his tricks, and he made no attempt to conceal his tracks in any way that might actually slow _him_ down. To Karka, it looked like the Major expected them to be following him much more closely than they actually were, because he wasted no time at all, sometimes picking rougher terrain to traverse if it was faster than the easier route to his destination.

Karka couldn't imagine where he was going, but Avyan -with the mind of a hunter despite his education as a scientist- figured it out and told her.

"He's heading to the mountains. The rocks there are loose and treacherous, even near the base, but he will leave no obvious trail. Not only are there no tracks on rock, there is no brush that he could trample or break as he passes. If we are lucky, he might slip and dislodge enough rock for it to be evident that _something_ struggled; it is unlikely there will be a true trail for us to follow," Avyan explained to her.

"But he cannot stay there for long," Karka said, "Not in broad daylight such as this."

"There are caves among the mountains. If he finds one, he could use it for shelter until nightfall."

"And if he doesn't?" Karka asked.

"Then he will have to leave the mountain slopes, or he will die there," Avyan replied, "But I do not expect to find him dead on the rocks of the mountains. No one who traverses the wilderness as he does would make such a foolish mistake. No, if he sees no immediate source of shelter, he will leave the mountains and return to the woods. But we have no way of knowing where he will do that. Or even when. It is possible he might have concealed himself on a ledge, and be waiting for us to pass by before coming down to seek shelter."

Looking up at the sky through the branches of the trees, Avyan seemed to be thoughtful.

Then he said, "I don't believe he will be up there. He'll have realized we're not right behind him, and he'll take the opportunity to come down and find a place to hide in the forest."

"He's assumed that there are skilled trackers following him, he has to know they'll realize all of that. So how does he expect to lose them?" Karka asked.

"Since he doesn't know the area, he can't count on being able to find the right sort of terrain to conceal his tracks, like a stream," Avyan replied, "But he's also set an unsustainable pace. The only reason he would travel this quickly, knowing that tracking is a slow process, is if he has a destination in mind, a plan for what he's going to do. I don't believe he's running blind, he's shown no sign of being that stupid. If he were that stupid, he'd go on the road. Traveling off-road through the forest without knowing where any of the animal trails are isn't an easy thing. In fact, it's pretty dangerous. And it's certainly not the fastest route, regardless of where he wants to go. But he has to know that there are soldiers positioned along the Hunter's Road, waiting to catch him. That's the only reason he'd stay off."

So that's why he wasn't on the road. The Major knew it was dangerous.

"But where would he be trying to go?" Karka asked.

"The Stargate, probably," Avyan answered, "There's nothing else out here for him. And, if he stays around long enough, the hunters will eventually track him down. They know the land, and they far outnumber him. Besides, they're scattered all over between here and Ring Hill, and the notebirds have undoubtedly delivered their messages by now. It's really only a matter of time until he's caught, unless he goes to the one place he knows we can't follow him."

"But if it's the only reasonable place for him to go, won't there be soldiers there to stop him?"

"Eventually, yes," Avyan replied, "But right now they're all looking for him here and however far down the road they've gotten. And remember that his people have come through the Stargate, claiming it and Ring Hill for themselves. There's no bloodless way to take it back from them, and I do not believe Queen Jahnavi is prepared to go that far. Not yet anyway. Perhaps the Major knows somehow. Maybe his people have notebirds of their own. If they do and one has flown to him already, he knows he only has to reach Ring Hill, and then the balance of power shifts in his favor and he will no longer be the hunted; he can become the hunter."

* * *

Avyan was actually vastly overestimating Lorne's knowledge and abilities. Avyan had seen and assessed what Lorne was capable of when they had first met, and combined that with the trail Lorne had left on exiting the city. But Avyan was thinking too much in his own terms. He didn't know that Lorne's radio was one of the items taken from him when he was arrested. And he also didn't know that Lorne had been poisoned.

Lorne had no idea whether Colonel Sheppard was coming or here already. Lorne also had no hope of making it to the Stargate right now, it was simply too far. What he did know was that he had to stop and rest, and soon. And he also knew that the hunt for him would begin involving more people, but their efforts would become less concentrated and less confident as he continued to elude them. Especially if he went in a direction they did not expect. That meant going away from the Stargate at the least, possibly towards the Hunter's Road or the city. To diminish their confidence and cohesion, he had to do something that confused them. The best way to do that was to do something that didn't make any sense.

It would be more baffling to them now because Lorne had heretofore done things that made a modicum of sense that he expected his pursuers to understand. If he suddenly did something inexplicable, that would throw them. They would assume he must have a plan they didn't understand. They would not assume that he was acting randomly.

Indeed, he would not be acting entirely randomly. He was still looking for a place to rest, and a possible source of water. But his third goal was to do something confusing. He needed time. He didn't expect to be able to completely shake his pursuers. In such a confined space as this valley, which was teeming with hunter-gatherer tribes spread out all over the place, he could not hope to lose them forever, not unless they suddenly lost interest in finding him. Considering how badly they wanted his blood, he didn't think that was something he'd better put much faith in.

From the mountainside, Lorne traveled in a wide arc until he met with the tracks he'd left earlier. From the trampled brush and churned up soil, Lorne could tell that people were following him in numbers. That didn't concern him a great deal, because their numbers wouldn't count for much unless they caught up with him. In fact, the greater their number, the slower they would have to travel, and the more chance there would be for them to inadvertently obliterate his tracks and -should they ever get close enough- tip him off to their approach with their noise.

Lorne followed in his own footprints for awhile, remembering that at one point there had been a rocky patch to the right of the path he'd taken. If he left the trail there, it would further delay his trackers, because they would have to stop and search not only for where he left the trail, but also again for where he'd left the rocks. He had not chosen that section earlier because it was away from his goal, and it was also open, because neither trees nor brush could grow through the rock. Having expected much closer pursuit, he had not wanted to risk being caught out in the open.

But now he was farther ahead of his pursuers, and had a different objective.

He found the rocky patch, and got on it. With the exception of when he'd first fled the city, Lorne had not run a step the whole time he was traveling. This being a marathon and not a sprint, he had instead adopted a fast walk or slow jog to cover the most ground with the fewest rest stops. But now he broke into a run, because he did not want to be on the open ground a second longer than necessary, just in case he was wrong about where his pursuers were.

Running proved to be a huge mistake. Lorne had been ignoring his headache and the pain in his muscles and joints so stubbornly that the dizziness which struck as soon as he increased his pace caught him by surprise. He lost his balance, stumbled and fell. Instinctively, he tucked and rolled, landing heavily on his shoulder instead of his face.

Lorne was basically unhurt aside from his pride, but he found that he didn't have the strength left to get up. So long as he'd been standing, he'd been able to pretend to himself that he wasn't weak. Now he was down, getting up was just too much trouble.

Realizing he'd gone as far as he could, Lorne looked around for a good hiding spot. He didn't expect anyone to be back this way for quite some time, but lying around in the open was a sure way to get caught. He spotted a large rock, jutting sharply upward from the ground. If he got around behind that and lay down curled up or sat leaned against it, he would be out of view of anyone following his trail.

It was a painfully exposed spot from other angles, but Lorne didn't really expect anyone to be wandering around. Even those uninvolved in the hunt for him would be warned out of the area so they wouldn't inadvertently cover Lorne's tracks with their own. At least, that's what he told himself.

After crawling over to the rocks, and settling himself against them, Lorne took the opportunity to do a full inventory, which didn't take as long as it usually would because he had basically nothing on him.

His gear had pretty much been stripped from him, leaving him in a t-shirt and pants, plus boots with socks. His vest had been taken, along with every item in every pocket of his pants. Though he followed the wise rule of always carrying an extra knife somewhere on his person, the people searching Lorne must've known the trick too, because they'd found it.

Lorne had taken back an M9 when he'd had his altercation with Rasika. At first he'd assumed it was his own, but a closer look told him it was actually Reed's. At a glance, all M9s look pretty much the same, and they all worked essentially the same too. Functionally, it might as well have been Lorne's own M9.

By the time he got hold of it, about half the fifteen-round magazine had been spent. Reed, like Lorne and the rest of his team, would not have left without a full magazine loaded up. That meant the Queen's scientists must have been busy figuring out how these guns worked, partially to better gauge the amount of danger they would be in if they were facing such a weapon, but probably also because they wanted to reverse engineer it for themselves, since it was far superior to what they had. Lorne had fired only one shot during his escape, and even that had probably been a waste.

"What I wouldn't give for a good zat right now," Lorne muttered to himself.

Like most of the Tau'ri (as Earthlings were known all over the Milky Way Galaxy these days), Lorne preferred Earth-based weapons, because they were familiar and he was trained to use them. He knew exactly what their limits were, and precisely what might go wrong with them in a combat situation. Staff weapons and zat'nik'tels were unknowns, and the Earth-based military commanders didn't like issuing them out to field operatives, since they didn't know the precise limits or problems they might have. They didn't know how to maintain them, or how to check for damage or wear. The zats and staff weapons were also irreplaceable, in that the Tau'ri couldn't build more of them. Their only supply was what they took off the Goa'uld and their Jaffa. Here in the Pegasus Galaxy, there was the added threat of the Wraith, and the bigwigs back on Earth didn't want them getting their greedy mitts on weaponry as advanced as zats and staffs. A combination of not trusting the weapons and not wanting them to fall into the hands of enemies who didn't already possess weapons equal to that meant not one person in the Pegasus Galaxy had a zat or staff.

Normally, Lorne wouldn't have minded. But having a weapon that could stun without killing and had a practically limitless number of shots would certainly have come in handy right about now. Especially since, with a zat, he had only to hit some part of his target. Any part would do. With the M9, he had to hit a critical spot on his target or else he'd risk the possibility that they would keep on coming. Shaky and dizzy, Lorne couldn't guarantee that he would be able to make a good shot, even at close range.

That was it, that was all he had.

 _Dr. Weir will send Colonel Sheppard for me_ , Lorne thought, _I just have to hold out until then._

His failing confidence restored by that internal assurance, Lorne closed his eyes to rest.

A moment later, he was asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

John made no attempt to conceal where his team was. In fact, though the rest of his team bucked it, John made good and sure that everyone knew where they were, making noise and even having a campfire at nightfall. It was a gamble, but John was betting the Ntsevu were intimidated, and a show of confidence would keep them that way. Maybe he was right and maybe not, but no one molested them in the night, though he had set watches just in case.

When they had camped for the night, John had allowed Mitali to return to his village, anticipating that Queen Jahnavi would send a response to the message John had sent via notebird. He wasn't wrong.

As the team were packing up to continue their trip early the next morning, Mitali appeared from out of the forest, looking quite breathless, as though he had run all the way here. Mitali took a few moments to catch his breath before speaking.

"My Queen grants you safe passage to the city," Mitali reported, "Her soldiers will not bother you."

"And what about Major Lorne?" John asked.

Mitali shook his head, "Her message made no mention of him."

"Well that's not good," Rodney observed.

John said nothing, but he secretly agreed. That Jahnavi said nothing of Lorne suggested she was sending subtle hints that she wasn't willing to part with the Major. She was hoping not to talk about him, rather like the proverbial elephant in the room. Well, it wasn't going to play out that way. One way or another, she was going to have to give Lorne back; John had made a habit of always discussing any pachyderms he found inside of human living spaces, and he wasn't leaving without Lorne.

"It concerns me that she said nothing of his health," Teyla said, "Given the nature of the message you sent, it would seem reasonable for her to reassure us that he is well, even if he is not, in order to avoid potentially incurring our wrath."

"I don't think she's very afraid of our wrath," Rodney remarked, struggling to shoulder his heavy backpack.

"She should be," Ronon growled, checking his magnum before holstering it.

"You all heard Dr. Weir, and her instructions were pretty clear," John reminded them, "There will be no wrath until after we've tried our other options."

Ronon grunted, Teyla was silent, Rodney was too preoccupied to respond until he got his pack settled.

"And what happens when those other options fail?" he asked.

John noted the particular choice of words. He wondered if this was Rodney being his usual pessimistic self, or if it was his genius that gave warning. It was often hard to tell what was unnecessary fretting and what was having a deeper understanding of the situation than anyone else. Rodney was an arrogant pain in the ass, but he had good reason to be. When it really counted, he always found a way to come through, and he was right a higher percentage of the time than any of his peers. But because he did have so many ideas, he was also wrong more often than any of them.

" _Then_ there will be wrath. Lots and lots of wrath," John answered, casting a significant look at Mitali, hoping he was getting all of this, and understanding it. He looked back at his team, concluding, "Then, but not before. Everybody got that? _I_ decide when there will be wrath."

Ronon grunted again, Teyla again said nothing.

"Okay," Rodney said softly, "I was just asking."

"Let's move out," John said, "We've got a lot of ground to cover."

"I was told to come with you," Mitali said, "In case you want to send another message to the Queen," he held up a notebird with both hands, "This one will go straight to one of the temple priests when released. We will be unable to get an answering message, because there is no notebird trained to come to me."

"Sure, tag along," John said, "Just try to keep up. And stay out of the way."

* * *

"It doesn't make any sense," Karka said, "There has been cold logic in everything he has done until now. Even attacking Lady Rasika made a certain kind of sense, because she is in charge of the research. When he circled back and crossed over his own trail, that too made sense. But this..."

She was frustrated. She had not slept well the night before when they camped, feeling uncomfortably exposed without a sheltering roof overhead, half-expecting the Major to come upon them and kill them in their sleep. In daylight that worry seemed foolish, but she had been unable to shake it off during the night. Now she was tired and stiff from a night on the ground.

The hunters seemed little worse for wear, probably because a night in the open was not unusual for them. The soldiers, accustomed to being in the city, were even more irritable. Avyan had seemed chipper when they started out, but seemed to be a little annoyed now.

It had always been a sore spot for him that he was born a hunter, yet could not read the tracks or intentions of his prey the way they could. This was of course because he had spent his youth in the city, learning the ways of the scientist, rather than in the forest learning to hunt. The hunt ran in his blood, as was evident by how naturally comfortable he was out here, but he lacked the training and experience, making him little more than an interested bystander.

The Major's tracks had been lost, and it was some time before any of the hunters realized what had happened. The Major had circled back and walked the exact path he'd taken the day before, apparently to return the mountain slopes. Because so many had followed after him, the ground was covered in human spoor, and it was impossible to be absolutely certain that's where the Major had gone, but for one obvious fact: he had left no visible tracks indicating he had left the trail. That meant he had continued to follow in his own tracks all the way to the mountains. It _had_ to mean that.

They had returned to the mountainside, but without a great deal of enthusiasm. They'd been lucky before when they'd quickly found where the Major had left the mountains the first time, it was unlikely they would be so fortunate again. It might very well take them all day to pick up the trail again. Or longer.

"Why would he go back to the mountains?" Avyan wondered, "Granted, he has covered his tracks well as a result, but he could not know where we were. We might well have still been on or near the mountains for all he knew. Going back to where he'd already been was reckless, especially as doing so would put him in the open."

Karka remembered the cocky grin the Major had offered her when they first met on Ring Hill. She remembered his lowered weapon, and the stupid jokes he'd made. She remembered his easy confidence among the members of the tribe they'd spent the night with. She remembered that he had showed no fear or hesitation at walking into the throne room with its guards. Being outnumbered had not unnerved him, nor had being surrounded. Reckless sounded like exactly the right descriptive term, though bold, fearless and foolish all seemed appropriate as well.

"He must've done it for a reason," Avyan persisted, "But I can't figure out what it was."

"The Major is a star traveler," Karka reminded him, "Possessed of technology and knowledge we do not understand. Perhaps you cannot find a reason for his actions because you do not have enough facts. You are a scientist, Avyan, and you know as well as I do that our not knowing the reason for something is not the same as their being no reason."

Avyan sighed, "Yes, I know. But I don't like it. The longer he's out here, the more likely something will happen to him. You and I both know that Queen Jahnavi does not intend to return him to his people if she can avoid it, but we also know that there will be bloodshed if any harm comes to him. It's unlikely they will forgive us even if that harm came to him while he was in flight from us."

"What sort of harm?" Karka asked.

"Most immediately? Dehydration. Have you seen any water sources? I haven't. And, unlike us, the Major is not carrying any water with him. As active as he has been in his evasion of us, it will not be long before he is brought down by thirst, if that has not happened already."

They were silent for a moment, then Avyan's expression cleared.

"What if he knew how to locate a water source? He would go to the source, wouldn't he?"

"I suppose he would," Karka agreed.

"Then we have only to travel to the nearest water source, and see if he is there, or has been recently."

"It isn't very likely the soldiers will agree to give up following the trail," Karka said doubtfully.

"They don't have to. We have plenty of people to split. Some could keep following the trail, others could go and check nearby sources of water."

"And possibly gather more men to guard those water sources," Karka agreed.

When they brought their plan to the captain of the Queen's Guard, who was directing the operation, he was not impressed.

"Do you have any idea how much manpower that would take? While we _could_ check nearby water sources, leaving guards at every source is utterly impossible."

Karka was somewhat surprised. It had always seemed to her like there were plenty of guards and soldiers for any eventuality. The revelation that there were not enough to guard every source of water made her realize how very small their actual numbers were. She knew the valley well, and knew where the permanent and consistent seasonal sources of water could be found.

Some of the soldiers were of course watching the road, and guards had stayed in the city for the protection of the Queen and her scientists, and of course more than one man would be needed for every water source. But, even so, there were not _that_ many.

She wondered how many of the Major's people there were. It dawned on her that they might not only be better armed than the Ntsevu, there might also be more of them.

"I can't help but feel as if we've wakened a sleeping dragon," Karka told Avyan as the captain walked away.

"Worse than that," Avyan said, "We've stolen its kin."

* * *

Lorne had awakened sometime after nightfall, feeling like he'd been hit by a truck. The site on his arm where Rasika had injected him was swollen and heated, and that heat seemed to be like an internal fire spreading through him. He knew he had a fever, and that it was only going to get worse before it got better. That is, if it ever did get better. He had to find water, and fast.

Getting up was slow and painful, but once he was up Lorne was able to find his balance and set off. He was lucky, in that he'd woken up early enough that some of the tribes still had lit fires. He could see the smoke rising above the trees from the slope of the mountain.

Time was now of the essence. Lorne couldn't afford to take the time and energy to plant false trails. He could only make a beeline for the nearest plume of smoke, and pray there was water somewhere nearby. He knew there was a chance that there wouldn't be, and he knew also that he was doomed if that was the case. But that didn't worry him much.

A tribe with families needed to be close to water, that was just plan fact. Traveling long distances carrying enough water for an entire tribe simply wasn't a practical option. Water was too heavy, for one thing. Assuming the average individual drank about two liters of water a day, not counting water used for cooking, they would wind up carrying about four pounds of water per person, which didn't sound like a lot until you started counting up how many people lived in the community, and how few of them could make the trip to fetch the water, and how rough the terrain between water and camp might be.

It was a _lot_ of water.

Lorne couldn't travel quickly in the dark, even though his eyes did adjust to the light of stars and moon, and the fire was out long before he reached the camp. Actually, he never quite got there. When he spotted the first signs of it through the trees, he immediately began to circle the area. He knew the water wouldn't be literally in the middle of the camp. Too much risk of flooding. Lorne knew a thing or two about living in a partially flooded city.

In the end, his guess paid off, and he located a river less than half a mile to the east of the camp. He knew the wise thing would be to purify the water first, but the only means he had of doing that involved starting a fire and boiling it. Too much risk of being detected. He'd just have to take the gamble that the river water wouldn't kill him. If he didn't drink, he was dead anyway.

Even though he approached the water and drank only a small amount to start with, the cold was a shock to the system, especially after having gone so long without any water at all. He choked on it, tried to keep it down and failed. A few minutes later, he worked up the courage to try again. This time his body accepted the water more eagerly, and it was a struggle not to drink too much too fast.

He spent most of the rest of the night near there, alternately drinking and falling into a light half-sleep from which the tiniest sound awoke him. Despite feeling overheated from fever, he shivered off and on, and he found himself wondering if he'd survive to sunrise.

In the morning, he awoke drenched in sweat, surprised to find he'd slept through the early dawn hours. He was equally surprised to find that he actually felt better, despite having spent the night on cold, hard ground. Despite the blazing sun that had heated the foothills during the day, the nights here were cold.

Lorne had no reliable means of judging, but it felt to him like his fever was down. When he stood up, he didn't get dizzy, though every joint and muscle moaned in protest.

He again drank from the river, keeping a careful eye out for any locals who might be up early getting water or trying to hunt animals that came here to drink, and then he decided on his next move.

The logical course was for him to follow the river downstream as far as he could, for it was currently heading in the general direction of the Stargate. Here at least, the riverbanks were slick rock, not sand, so Lorne would leave no trace of his passing. But how long would it be before someone thought to check water sources leading or on the way to the Stargate? Was there enough cover near the river for him to risk it? The other choice was to either leave the river here or go upriver and then leave it. Either way, he'd be losing the only water source he knew of, with no idea when or if he'd find another.

Even if he'd been fresh to start, that would have been a suicidal move. Weak and sick as he was, he didn't dare leave the water now he'd found it. It was either upriver or down, and there was no percentage in going upriver if he was just going to turn around and go back down again.

On the other hand, there might be some point in crossing the river, putting that body of water between himself and the Ntsevu. His clothing was already drenched in sweat, river water couldn't possibly be that much worse. Now the sun was up, the day would be warm.

It wasn't generally considered a great idea to soak your M9 in water, but the weapon was durable, built to withstand battle conditions, which could be unpredictable at the best of times. Cold, heat, hard impact, sand and ice were all features of battlegrounds where M9s had been needed in the past, and they had survived those rigorous tests. They had also been exposed to salt water without failing.

But did he dare risk it? If he damaged his firearm, he would have no ability to defend himself at range. He'd be stuck fighting hand to hand, or swinging a big stick (if he could find one). Not ideal.

Perhaps it was because he was an Air Force major, not a SEAL or Marine, but Lorne felt disinclined to go into the water if he didn't have to. He wasn't afraid of water, and he could swim quite well (both had been all but required for all personnel -military or otherwise- assigned to supplement the initial Atlantis expedition, which had not known in advance where the city was), but the river was wide, fast-flowing and of uncertain depth. And Lorne was really in no shape for any more physical exertion than what was absolutely necessary to stay alive. He deemed crossing the river nonessential for the moment.

It didn't take much deliberation before Lorne decided to follow the river downstream, because he couldn't think of a good reason to go the other way.

Lorne hadn't eaten in more than twenty-four hours, but he didn't have a lot of choices. Though the plant life was similar to what he knew, it was different enough that he wasn't about to make any guesses as to what was edible. And so far he hadn't actually seen any animals; anyway, hunting had never been his strong suit to begin with, and he couldn't risk giving away his position by firing the M9, which was the only weapon he had on him. So for now he would have to do without, and it was beginning to tell on him. He was forced to move slowly and rest frequently.

It was becoming increasingly evident that flight had been a poor choice, but Lorne couldn't think what else he would have done. Rasika had intended to kill him, he was quite sure of that now, though he had no idea why she would want that, and he had no clue who else might be involved. If he hadn't taken off, sooner or later Rasika would have succeeded, because Lorne was helpless in a cell. But he wasn't exactly well off now. Possibly Rasika had succeeded already, Lorne just hadn't stopped moving yet.

He felt his confidence beginning to be shaken, his endless optimism starting to flag. Never one to live in denial, Lorne admitted to himself that he was actually starting to worry, just a little. He didn't doubt for a second that Sheppard was coming for him, but he was no longer certain if that would happen soon enough to save him.

Though the fever had broken and taken the worst side effects of the poison with it, the effort of fighting it off had left his internal systems worn out, and his body ached more from that ordeal than the excessive exercise. He needed food to replace the energy lost in combating the poison, and was more desperately hungry than he would ordinarily have been, even aside from the calories he'd lost in hard traveling. He was out in the wilderness, purposely covering his tracks. That didn't just slow down his pursuers, in the end it would make it more difficult -if not impossible- for Sheppard to track him down if he didn't make it to the Stargate on his own.

If Lorne made it that far, the Ntsevu were sure to be waiting, unless Sheppard had arrived and forced them off Ring Hill. That was Lorne's only chance, and it would only come into play if he managed to get himself that far under his own power. Lorne wasn't sure he could do that.

What he was sure of was that he would give all he had to try. It wasn't just about his own survival or completing the mission, Lorne knew Atlantis needed him. They had too few people with the ATA gene, and even fewer who could rightly call themselves pilots. They needed him. Perhaps not today, or even tomorrow, but someday. Lorne had no intention of letting his people down by dying here.

So screw the worry and the doubt, he was going to do this. He was going home.


	8. Chapter 8

"You what?" John couldn't help it; the news had stunned him.

" _We_ did nothing," Queen Jahnavi replied levelly, a glimmer of irritation in her ice blue eyes, "The Major escaped our custody, attacked one of my scientists as well as a guard who attempted to stop him, and then fled into the forest. We have been unable to recapture him."

"And you _won't_ ," John informed her, "He's an Air Force major, and he's smart enough to stay a step ahead of you until _you_ give up or _we_ find him."

Over the years, US Marines and even the Russians (among others) had become involved in the Stargate program due to a variety of political shenanigans John didn't understand. But the majority of SG teams were even now Air Force personnel, the most experienced 'Gate travelers from Earth. Lorne was experienced in off-world travel, and when he'd signed on to the Stargate program he'd received specialized training from some of the best Stargate teams in the field at the time.

"What did you _do_ to him?" Rodney demanded, "He surrendered to you, and he knew we'd been coming back for him; he wouldn't start going after your people unless you gave him a damned good reason."

John hadn't even thought of it that way, but Rodney was dead on.

Lorne was a good second-in-command for John, primarily because he was just really laid-back. He was willing to follow John's lead, and to wait for instructions. He didn't tend to ruffle feathers or make enemies, though he was perfectly willing to fight without a second's hesitation if it was necessary. But, as Rodney had pointed out, Lorne had assessed the situation and decided that surrender was his best option. But something had changed his mind. Something had not only made him break out, but go after a scientist who -unlike the guard- probably wasn't making an effort to stop him and wasn't much of a threat even if they were trying to be. But something had cause Lorne to decide that staying and waiting for rescue was not an option. Something had driven him to violence and flight.

John needed to know why that had happened. But first he had to establish the terms of the relationship between his people and Jahnavi's in clear and unambiguous language.

"We're here to get Major Lorne back. Now, you can either stay out of our way, or we can kick over anyone who tries to get in our way. Now, there's just the four of us here, but if you give us a hard time or stop us from contacting our people, they will come down on you, and they'll tear you apart."

John said all of this in a reasonable tone, and without any menacing gestures.

"I have heard you," Jahnavi said, rising to step down from her throne so that she was on the same level as John and the others, "Now you must hear me: your Major Lorne is N'we, possibly the last of his kind, and we need his power to survive."

"I don't care if he's your state bird and you need his feathers to make a hat," John told her firmly, "You're not keeping Major Lorne here against his will."

Gently, Teyla placed her hand on John's arm. When he did not pull away from her, she stepped forward to take over the negotiations. John stepped back next to Rodney.

"Even _I_ know that was the wrong thing to say," Rodney whispered, but John ignored him.

"Like you could do any better," John hissed back.

"I'm a genius, it's not my job to make people like me," Rodney retorted.

"And I'm a colonel in the Air Force, what do you think _my_ job is?"

Teyla pretended she couldn't hear them, and instead focused all of her attention on Jahnavi. Teyla had the regal bearing of a queen, the formidable presence of a warrior, and the gentle spirit of a saint, and she could convey all of these qualities with little more than a softly spoken word.

"I understand that you fear for the safety of your people," Teyla said compassionately, "My own people have been hunted by the Wraith for as long as we can remember."

She had Jahnavi's attention. Jahnavi had naturally assumed that John and his team were all of the same people, but it was clear she understood what Teyla did not say, that her people and John's were actually not one and the same. A second look at the team likely told Jahnavi that Teyla and Ronon were in fact very different in dress and manner from John and Rodney. A puzzled look came across her fair features, but Jahnavi said nothing, politely allowing Teyla to continue.

"It is even possible that, had the situation for my people been the same as yours when Colonel Sheppard and his people came through the Stargate, I might have acted as you have. But it would have been a mistake," Teyla said, her voice hardening at the last word, then softening once more as she went on, "The Wraith attacked my people, and took many of us, including myself. Colonel Sheppard came for us, set us free, and helped us to relocate to a world where the Wraith were not."

"And now you serve them," Jahnavi said coldly when Teyla paused.

"By my own choice," Teyla corrected, "I work _with_ the Colonel and his people. My people aid Colonel Sheppard's in what ways we can, as his people aid mine. We are allies now."

Jahnavi gazed at Teyla searchingly for a long moment, and John couldn't tell what she was thinking.

Finally, she said, "And this is possible for my people, even now?"

"Yes, it is possible," Teyla said, then issued a soft spoken warning, "But it will not be easy. You have betrayed the trust placed in you by Major Lorne's team when they came in peace instead of with weapons drawn against you. That will take time and effort to rebuild. But it can be done."

Jahnavi averted her eyes slightly, then looked sidelong at Teyla, "What must we do?"

From behind Teyla, Rodney spoke up, "We need to talk to that scientist, for one thing."

"And you need to stop hunting Major Lorne for another," John added.

"The first is easy enough," Jahnavi said, "But there are many out searching for your Major Lorne right now. It will take time to contact them," she looked thoughtful, "And how do you intend to locate the Major without their help? There are dangers in the valley you know nothing of, and I cannot guarantee his safety or yours beyond the borders of my city and the camps of my hunters."

"Major Lorne can take care of himself," John assured her, "Stop chasing him, and he'll find his way back to us on his own. Now, about this scientist of yours..."

* * *

Jahnavi called for Rasika to be summoned. In the meantime, she invited the Colonel and his team out of the throne room and into somewhere they would not have to stand so firmly on formality. She selected the room that was known as the library, though the backdrop of books and scrolls paled in comparison with the seating arrangement which looked out on the open air courtyard, which was really more of a garden.

In her youth, Jahnavi had been very interested in plants, and had learned how to keep some of them alive. Many of her plants were decorative flowers, but there were a few edible plants among them as well. Jahnavi didn't know it, but she was advancing her people's understanding of agriculture from knowing where a plant grew and why to being able to replicate those conditions artificially by moving in the right soil and delivering the right amounts of water, as well as placing plants in shade or sun as needed. She also did not know that the Atlantis team could further her understanding of this seemingly simple technique. It was possible that, in the future, the hunter-gatherer tribes might be hunter-farmers, and eventually just farmers.

She knew that the newcomers had advanced technology, and habits alien to her own, but she could not even begin to realize what they might be able to offer her. The Ntsevu had not traded outside of themselves in recorded history, because there was no one to trade with. Commerce was extremely limited, because it was necessary for all aspects of the community to function in order for the whole to survive, which meant everyone doing their part, not haggling over prices.

Even had trading been a key part of her people's everyday lives, Jahnavi could not even begin to imagine what someone outside of that might have for trade. She knew there were worlds beyond her own, but her concept of those worlds was dimly formed by pleasant daydream fantasies and the limits of her own world. She could no more imagine what the Atlantis team might be able to offer her than the original SG team had imagined all that they would find on Abydos.

Coupled with that was the fact that the only thing to have come through the Stargate in living memory were the Wraith. It was impressed upon Jahnavi's subconscious that things which came through the Stargate were incredibly dangerous, unbelievably powerful and looking out only for their own interests, which had heretofore always involved the culling of her people.

In her own estimation, her library was huge, but the fact was there were fewer than a thousand different books in it, and only slightly more scrolls. It was not only the largest library in the city, it was the only place that could be rightly called a library, and Jahnavi knew that the Wraith would likely destroy it during her lifetime, because they always found repositories of knowledge and destroyed them.

But that was the point. This was the only serious collection of written works. But the documents her scientists and historians worked with were scattered throughout the city, and some were even hidden outside of the city. It was this system that had saved some records in the past, but -if the power of the N'we could be harnessed- it would never have to do so again.

What she didn't know was how to make the Colonel and his people understand. Her people were simply not as powerful as his, they could not hold their own against the Wraith. Because even the Colonel's people had to fight the Wraith, Jahnavi did not believe there was anywhere to hide. If these expert star travelers couldn't avoid confrontation with the Wraith, what hope did the Ntsevu have of doing so? Relocating her people might buy them time, and more room to run, but the N'we was the only way to stop the attacks from ever being successful again.

Jahnavi did not dare say that, and instead pretended to go along with what she was being told, feigning curiosity in the hopes of distracting them from their main objective. She needed to buy time. Time for the Major to be located, and time for the research to resume. Rasika assured her they were close to a solution, and would have found it in a matter of hours had the Major not fled.

The timing on that seemed very suspicious, and Jahnavi found herself wondering if perhaps the Colonel and his people were somehow affiliated with the Wraith. After all, no one alive today had ever seen a Wraith, only their flying machines, and their ghostly specters haunting the shadows, which Jahnavi knew were not real because she -like her mother before her- had inherited the ability to sense the presence of the Ntsevu's deadly enemy. The Wraith were depicted in stories and plays as being hideous monsters, but Jahnavi knew they could look like anything, possibly even humans. For all she knew, they could _be_ humans, but with very advanced technology.

There were, after all, some small texts that most of the Ntsevu rejected as being fiction or the product of the writer's delusions that said the N'we were actually evil, that they worked _for_ the Wraith instead of against them. These writings suggested that the last of the N'we had not been killed by the scientists experimenting on them, but had actually been killed for having allowed the Wraith to attack the city and tear it asunder. It was possible then that the Wraith lived among ordinary humans, blending in with them and biding their time until they were ready.

It was horrible to contemplate, and Jahnavi had never believed that the N'we were wicked as these texts suggested, but the arrival of these star travelers who could somehow light the temple had made her wonder if perhaps she had been wrong all along. But if she was, that only made it all the more imperative that she not only secure the N'we for herself, but find a way to transfer his power over the temple to someone she could trust, or perhaps to herself.

While she listened to the prattling of the striking woman they had called Teyla, Jahnavi's mind raced, trying to think of someway she could convince these people to leave without harming anyone.

When she had sent the messenger to fetch Rasika, she had additionally instructed him to tell Rasika that her current plan was to stall the star travelers. If and when the Major was captured, she did not want them to know about it until Rasika was finished with him. They seemed confident that Jahnavi's people would not capture the Major now he'd escaped. She decided to let that confidence be their undoing.

The only problem was with the Major himself. Returned alive, he would relay that he had not been returned the moment he was captured, and Jahnavi was sure that would anger the star travelers. Returned dead, his death would be just the excuse the star travelers needed to rip the Ntsevu city apart, slaughter its people and torch its forests. She made sure the messenger conveyed these concerns to Rasika. Rasika and her fellow scientists would probably come up with some solution.

Teyla was babbling something about a method for improving plant growth and how that information and more might be offered up in the form of a trade of some kind, but Jahnavi was only pretending to listen. It was something Jahnavi was highly skilled at. Her people always came to her with their inane complaints and ideas, and a great many of them really only wanted to be heard. Jahnavi was never alone in the throne room, and always made sure to have at least one scientist and one historian present, so they could take down whatever important information was conveyed. Jahnavi didn't enjoy ignoring her subjects, but there were too many of them and they were too unfocused and long-winded to hear everything each of them had to say.

She was actually more interested in the one who'd been introduced as Doctor McKay. The Doctor, having secured permission to do so, had wandered away and was looking through the books and scrolls. The look in his eyes as he scanned the pages was a familiar one. Jahnavi had seen it in the eyes of every one of her scientists at some point or another. He wasn't just skimming the texts, pondering the symbols and wondering as to their meaning, he was understanding them. It wasn't just being able to read from education, it was having a mind sharp and agile enough to comprehend the meaning not just of the words and sentences, but the information they were trying to convey. He was a scientist and, from the smoothly efficient way he went from one book or scroll to another, a very good one.

Most of what was shelved in this library was old knowledge, some of it was pure theory or active fiction. But some of what had been concealed elsewhere was copied here as well. The Doctor seemed to comprehend it all with astounding rapidity, or perhaps he already knew these things.

And then he picked up a tome on the N'we. Jahnavi forced herself not to react, though she felt a spike of fear drive itself into her chest. She knew the kind of experiment that was described in that book. What was described was far more barbaric than Jahnavi thought necessary, but the star travelers couldn't know that. They were bound to assume that the abuse and neglect contained within those pages was the reason their Major had turned on Rasika and fled the city.

"Dear God," the Doctor breathed, and Jahnavi stiffened.

"What?" Colonel Sheppard's head snapped around, instantly his focus shifted from diplomacy to paying attention to what his subordinate had to say.

"These people have barely mastered the use of soap, but they're screwing around with gene therapy," the Doctor replied, "No wonder they ran out of people with the ATA gene."

"Let me see that," the Colonel got up from where he'd been seated and went over to the Doctor, reading over the other man's shoulder.

Jahnavi scrambled for something she could say, some easy and clear statement that would excuse that text. Something, anything that would prevent them from becoming violent in their attempts to retrieve their Major. The truth. The truth would do just as well as any lie.

"That is a very old text," Jahnavi said, "We have done nothing like that to your Major."

"You did _something_ ," the Colonel said, glaring at her, "Major Lorne acted as he did for a reason."

"He is the only N'we in existence that we know of," Jahnavi reminded him, remaining calmly seated, "We would do nothing to risk his health, for that reason if no other."

"Are you kidding?" the Doctor scoffed, looking up from the book, "You probably don't even sterilize your needles. Any medical procedure you performed would be a risk to his health."

Jahnavi faltered. Was that true? The Doctor certainly looked indignant, and the Colonel looked as if his stomach had suddenly become slightly unsettled. She reminded herself that these people knew much more than even her most knowledgeable scientists. It _was_ possible that they were right.

But, if they were, why had the Major submitted quietly to having blood samples taken several times before suddenly becoming violent? If he felt endangered by the procedure to the degree that the Doctor indicated he was, why had he passively undergone even one such procedure, let alone several?

In fact, only one thing Jahnavi could think of _did_ make sense. Rasika said they were close to the answer. The Major must have known it, and that was why he had attacked Rasika and then fled. He didn't want the Ntsevu to have their solution. He did not want them to save themselves. Yes, that was what made sense. But the only way for that to make sense was if he was not who he had claimed to be. If he was actually working for the Wraith. Or perhaps _was_ a Wraith.

Jahnavi felt herself beginning to shake, and firmly clamped down on her fear, taking several deep breaths as subtly as she could manage. These people absolutely must _not_ see her fear. They must not realize how much she knew. They must not find out how close the Ntsevu were to stopping the evil of the Wraith forever. If they found out, they would surely kill Jahnavi, and her people.


	9. Chapter 9

It was not the first time John had been expecting an old, crotchety type with a learned and dusty air and found himself face-to-face with a pretty woman, but it still surprised him. Even though many of Rodney's underlings in the science lab were female, and many fit the standard definition of attractive regardless of gender, John still had a preconceived notion of what scientists looked and acted like.

Rasika was like the dark elf version of Jahnavi: she had black hair that flowed to her waist, carefully held back by a small French braid on either side that met in the back and became a single rope of hair, and dark eyes that looked pleasantly beguiling. She was not short, but neither was she especially tall, perhaps slightly taller than Teyla. She was dressed in a properly unfamiliar but recognizably professional scientist manner. John could just imagine Rodney making his snide remarks about John's being Kirk. He _did_ seem to meet an inordinate amount of single, attractive alien woman.

But what really came to the forefront of John's mind was a question: why would Major Lorne attack this woman? She hardly seemed dangerous. Though beautiful and graceful in her movements, Rasika lacked the warrior's edge that Teyla displayed at all times. She had not even that slightly superior presence that Queen Jahnavi had. In fact, Rasika seemed completely harmless.

That alone was enough to put John on edge. Where military men were typically known for being suspicious and rather confrontational, the best description of Lorne's usual attitude was blithe. He wasn't irresponsibly incautious or disastrously trusting, but Lorne generally made friends first and enemies later. The Major didn't tend to get close to many people -John wasn't even sure he knew Lorne's first name- but it wasn't because of any overt standoffishness on his part. Rasika had done something to the Major. Something terrible. And John needed to know what that was.

After a brief introduction, Rasika -at the behest of her Queen- had grudgingly agreed to allow John and his team to visit her laboratory. Her eyes were guarded when she spoke to John, but he couldn't tell if she was wary of him because of who he was... or what he might be capable of if he found out what she had done (whatever that might be).

They spent some time in several rooms full of equipment John didn't want to guess about, but which Rodney made several exclamations of dismay over. John had to hush him before he explained -in exhaustive detail- what was wrong with them. The Atlantis expedition and Ntsevu were a long way from the negotiating trade agreement stage, and these rooms were full of people who might actually be able to understand what Rodney was saying, and act on any information he inadvertently let slip.

When they entered Rasika's lab, Rodney fell oddly silent. After looking around the room for a moment, John understood why. Rasika's main study was that of medicine, a topic which seemed to make Rodney slightly nauseous. His claim had always been that medicine was barely a science, but John -and indeed everyone who knew Rodney- knew it was actually just that Rodney's hypochondria got worse the more he learned of medicine. Rodney was already convinced he had a variety of maladies that were probably slowly killing him (Indeed, he truly did have a few. More than John had initially suspected), he didn't need to learn about more illnesses he might potentially have.

"This is where I was assaulted," Rasika explained, gesturing to an open space between lab tables, "Your Major burst in here and attacked me while I was running an experiment."

"What kind of experiment?" John asked, as Rodney moved closer to Rasika and began to explore the table next to her with his eyes.

"My Queen has told you the purpose of our research," Rasika said flatly, "Without her express orders, I will tell you no more about it."

"Well that's not very sociable," John told her, "And we were starting to get along so well."

"Were it up to me, you would not be here," Rasika replied.

"Oh well," John said sarcastically, "If we're talking about what we'd rather have happen, I would rather be at home golfing. And yet... here we are."

Rodney looked up from the paper he was reading, glanced at John, rolled his eyes, and went back to reading. It had become more and more apparent over time that nobody shared John's fondness for golfing. Most of the military personnel considered it a sissy game trying to pass itself off as a sport, and most of the science personnel considered it to be entirely too physical for their liking. Rodney had a slightly different reason for disliking golf, stating that it was "boring and predictable".

From the rather annoyed look Rasika gave him, it was clear she had no idea what golf even was, and that she also didn't really care, which was kind of the point John was making. He didn't care what Rasika wanted. Hell, he didn't even really care what Jahnavi wanted.

"Did you try to inject Major Lorne with this?" Rodney asked, picking up the paper he'd been reading and waving it at Rasika in a decidedly accusatory manner.

"Queen Jahnavi desired a means of transferring the power of the N'we to herself, and that was what we were ordered to accomplish," Rasika said, but John noticed she'd evaded the question.

"This isn't a gene therapy drug," Rodney said, gesturing towards the collection of vials on the counter near where he'd gotten the paper from, "It's a poison for anybody with the ATA gene."

"What?" John demanded, stepping closer.

Rodney shoved the paper against his chest in spite of the fact that Rasika made a sound of protest and reached for it, "I'd need Carson to check it but, if I'm right, the chemical compound that paper describes specifically activates when it comes in contact with the ATA gene. It's harmless to most people, but it'll kill anyone with the ATA gene."

John felt a small bit of pride that Rodney had not mentioned himself or John directly when referring to 'anyone with the ATA gene.' The Ntsevu didn't know they had the ATA gene, and he wanted it to stay that way, especially in light of this new information.

"We discover many things in research," Rasika said, reaching for the paper, "We do not make use of everything we learn."

John withheld the papers while Rodney picked up one of the vials, "If that compound is inside this vial..."

"You cannot just come in here and take my research!" Rasika cried, "Guards!"

Two guards burst in, but Ronon and Teyla were ready for them, and met them with drawn weapons. Rodney flinched at the sound of the door banging open, but John did not so much as move.

"I don't get it," John said, "Why would you want to kill someone you believed was your people's only hope of defending themselves against the Wraith?"

Rasika glared at him, but remained silent. She knew she'd been caught, knew they would not believe any denial she made. The only question now was: had she deceived her Queen as well, or was she acting under Jahnavi's orders? The answer to that question would significantly affect what John's next move should be. The problem was, he didn't know how to get that answer.

But at least now he understood what must have set Lorne off. If that vial did indeed contain what Rodney suspected, it was motivation for Lorne to not only escape but actively attack Rasika. If anything, Lorne had even less medical knowledge than John did, but even he knew the difference between somebody drawing blood and injecting something into him. Even Lorne, with his relaxed and affable nature, would balk at the idea of something unknown being pumped into his system.

Rodney had a more pertinent question, "Did you inject Major Lorne with this?" he shook the stoppered vial he held, but did so very, very carefully.

"I honestly remember very little of what happened when he attacked me," Rasika said somewhat haughtily, "It is possible I might have grabbed anything and attempted to defend myself."

"That's not what I asked," Rodney said impatiently, "If Major Lorne really attacked you like you say he did, he wouldn't have just stopped and waited for you to fill a syringe with this fluid. I asked about an injection, not whether you tried to break a bottle over his head."

Rasika set her jaw, and gazed defiantly at Rodney without speaking.

Evidently seeing more in her look than she wanted him to, Rodney turned to John, "Sheppard, Lorne may be in more trouble than we realized. If he's got this stuff in his system, he may already be dead."

* * *

Lorne wasn't dead (not yet anyway), but his condition was somewhat less than ideal.

Moving slow and resting often wasn't cutting it. Lorne needed fuel to keep going and, while water was the most urgently needed component of that fuel, what he really required now was food. A human could survive a surprisingly long time without eating, but that didn't take into account any physical activity they might be forced to engage in during that time, nor did it consider the amount of strain that poisoning or illness would exert, or the energy that would need to be replenished afterward.

Unfortunately, the wilderness survival training that covered what to do if he didn't have adequate gear was far in his past, and it had never been intended to deal with alien life forms. Lorne had heard too many stories of SG-teams that had eaten something off-world that looked for all the world like something familiar, but had turned out to be addictive, deadly or at the very least extremely unpleasant as it was traversing their digestive systems. He wasn't about to try the experience for himself.

Besides which, the only likely source of food he saw was in the water. Fish. But of course smoke from a wayward fire would bring the Ntsevu right to him. He couldn't risk it. And he couldn't risk eating a raw fish he was unfamiliar with either. Besides which, sushi had never had any appeal for him. Hungry as he was, he didn't think he could stomach it, and there was no point wasting time and energy catching something his body would then violently reject.

That just left the natives, who surely had a supply of food stored away. Of course, Lorne didn't believe he could just stroll into a tribal campsite and then back out again.

However, one thing Lorne _was_ well equipped for was getting into places where he wasn't wanted. Lorne was a pilot, but a part of his training had covered what to do if he found himself on the ground, particularly if he was behind enemy lines. When he'd joined the SGC, that training had been augmented to include scenarios involving the Goa'uld and other serious threats found in the Milky Way galaxy, such as the Replicators. Lorne had been transferred to the Atlantis expedition before the Ori had become a known threat, and certainly before enough about them was known to do any training. However, he had received a course teaching him about the tactics and weaponry of the Wraith before he even arrived at Atlantis, and Colonel Sheppard had furthered his education before ever turning him loose in the galaxy. A part of all of that training involved trying to get in and out of enemy strongholds.

A few villagers in huts would pose little more difficulty. That is, if Lorne could find them.

He knew it was bad form to steal food supplies, especially from people who might yet become allies. Lorne was well versed in the sometimes extensively winding paths that had been taken before the Tau'ri -or Lanteans as they were more commonly referred to in the Pegasus Galaxy- became allies of certain peoples both in the Milky Way and Pegasus Galaxies. But he also knew he didn't have much of a choice. Survival _had_ to be his immediate priority.

Lorne wasn't starting from scratch this time. This flowing water source was his starting point. All he had to do was look for well-worn pathways or other signs of human habitation to tell him if there was a village somewhere nearby but out of sight of the river's edge. Water was a commodity that had to be brought in almost daily, and that meant tramping down the brush and weeds, even if no one attempted to actually cut a path. Before, when Lorne had been trying to locate a village, he'd had no knowledge of where fresh water might be found (that's why he'd needed the village). Now, as a village had helped him to find the water, the water might help him find a village.

Finding the path he sought proved to be the easy part. Lorne knew he could not approach in daylight, he'd be seen immediately. But to hide here and wait for darkness would cost him in distance from his pursuers. He also couldn't actually hide nearby, or he would risk being spotted by villagers out hunting, gathering or fetching water. It was frustrating, but he had to choose between stopping here or continuing on in the hopes of coming across another village before nightfall.

Obviously there was no real choice. Lorne wouldn't get very far without food, and he could not guarantee that there would be another village nearby. He was sure there were more along the river, especially since all the Ntsevu seemed to be allies and not competitors. But he couldn't say when he would spot another pathway. Almost guaranteed he would not see one in the dark at all.

There was one other problem: the pathway was on the other side of the river.

Faced with the prospect of actually having to cross it, Lorne found the river looked much wider, deeper and faster than it had earlier when he really hadn't needed to cross it. He believed that was his own imagination playing tricks, but he knew also that certain parts of rivers were more dangerous than others. He decided to see if he could find an easier section of it to cross.

Lorne had absolutely no intention of drowning.

* * *

John had to decide what to do, and fast.

Rodney had given him the information he'd been looking for in one effortless move, holding up the vial as if it were... well... poison. John was smart enough to understand the papers that accompanied the vial explaining what it was, but it was a matter he had no education in.

They had no proof that what was in the vial was the same stuff described on the papers, and even less that it had been used on Lorne. But John knew well enough that was what must have happened, because there was no other logical explanation as to why Lorne had suddenly taken off when he could just as easily have waited for John to show up and get him out, something he had done many times. Perhaps too many. John tamped down on that thought at once. There wasn't time for such thinking.

But what was there to do now? Lorne was gone, possibly poisoned, and not only couldn't John prove it, he couldn't know if Rasika had acted alone or on the orders of her Queen. Even if they wanted to test the liquid in the vial, it was a long haul back to the Stargate, and tests would take time. John was already sure of the vial's contents, if only because of the fear in Rasika's eyes.

What was Rasika afraid of? Was she afraid of John himself? Or was she afraid of what he might tell Jahnavi? But what _could_ he tell Jahnavi? Even if she hadn't ordered Lorne killed, how likely was it that she would believe one of her own people had tried to kill him without her knowledge?

The guards were still being held at gunpoint. Rasika still stared fearfully at the papers John was holding. And Rodney was still waiting, holding the vial as though he was afraid it would burst into flames and set him alight at any moment. It was time to make a decision.

"I think it's time Jahnavi and I had a real talk," John said.

"Colonel!" Rodney understood immediately what he meant, and didn't like it.

"Stay here," John said firmly, "And keep that vial safe."

He waved the guards out of his way and stepped past them, out into the hall, with the papers Rodney had found tucked under one arm. John knew how the game was played. Leaders had to act in a certain way when their followers were present, or when there was an audience. But if John could get Jahnavi alone, without her guards, and without his team, he just might get some answers.

It was a risk, going off by himself, but a calculated one. John was betting that nobody here would try to harm him without being told to do so by someone in authority. Jahnavi would not allow it. She pretended otherwise, but John knew she was afraid of him and his kind, and what they might do to her and hers. He was counting on that fear to prevent anything from happening to him now he was alone.

John strode down the hall purposefully, but each step down it increased his feelings of doubt. Rodney had appealed to his rank, which usually indicated a high level of desperation. Had Rodney thought of something John himself had not? Rodney didn't think like other people, and typically saw the big picture and fine details both at once. It was his job to see how things might go wrong, and to plan for every eventuality. It made him sound paranoid and callous, which he was, but the hell of it was that he was also usually exactly right. This could be a huge mistake John was making.

It was no secret that John wasn't very good with people in some ways. He was bad at relationships, and terrible at negotiating. Rodney was bad at people too though, so his perception of danger from the human element was usually false to some degree. Somehow that wasn't very reassuring to think about.

Perhaps it was only pride, but John felt it was too late to turn back or change his mind.

When he did not find Jahnavi in her throne room, John faltered for a moment. Then he realized she might still be in the library where she'd been left. He went to look for her there, and found her.

Jahnavi was seated on a luxurious couch facing the garden. She was alone.

John entered quietly, approaching close enough that he could silence her if she attempted to scream.

"We have much to discuss," he'd thought she was unaware of him, but her words said otherwise.

Jahnavi turned her head to look at him, her expression mild but the look in her eyes distraught. She gestured towards a chair to the left of the couch, and -after a moment's wary hesitation- he went to the chair and sat on it, still holding the papers he'd taken from Rasika's lab.

"What do you know about this?" John asked, thrusting the papers towards Jahnavi.

He was in no mood for games or pleasantries. Jahnavi's gaze fell on the papers, but she made no move to take them. She looked back at John, and tilted her head ever so slightly.

"Nothing," she replied, "I am not a scientist. That is Rasika's handwriting, if I am not mistaken."

"I wouldn't know," John said honestly, "What I do know is that this is no research on gene therapy."

Only Jahnavi's eyes betrayed surprise when she calmly said, "Then what is it?"

"A way to get away with murder," John replied, "And start a war."

Jahnavi's beautiful, delicate features contorted for a brief instant into a look of terror. Then her schooled expression reasserted itself, and she appeared serene once more.

"I think perhaps you should explain," she said.


	10. Chapter 10

"I assure, I knew nothing of this," Jahnavi said after John fulfilled her request for an explanation.

"I'd be a little more inclined to believe you if I hadn't seen that book with its medieval torture techniques," John snapped.

Jahnavi's eyes flashed with anger that she fought to conceal when she spoke, "The N'we are the key to the salvation of my people. For what reason would I seek to destroy the last known N'we in existence?"

John had to admit to himself that the Queen had a point. Though she could be lying about what she wanted with Lorne, the books and research notes Rodney had perused supported her claims. If it was a ruse, it was a very elaborate one, and one whose purpose John could not even begin to guess at.

Perhaps at the start, if they had wanted Lorne dead but were hoping to pacify the Lanteans, that might have made sense. But not now that Jahnavi knew how pissed off John and his people were. Now there was no point to pretending, because it had been made clear to her that the fury of Atlantis was going to come down on the Ntsevu if they failed to return Major Lorne intact. Unless he was already dead and Jahnavi was trying to pretend he wasn't in the hopes of buying time... but John didn't believe that.

Unless and until he saw a body, he had to believe Lorne was alive, had to keep operating under that belief. No, it did not seem likely that Jahnavi was lying to him about wanting Lorne alive.

"If you're not trying to kill him," John said, "Then Rasika is. Why?"

"Rasika is one of my most trusted scientists," Jahnavi insisted, concealing her anger well beneath a cool exterior, but John noted it just the same, "She would not go against the wishes of her Queen."

As he decided he believed Jahnavi when she said she didn't want Lorne dead, John now decided he believed that she knew nothing of Rasika's actions. But he could also see that she was unwilling to believe. He understood, because he had people he trusted, body and soul believed in, and he wouldn't want to listen to anyone saying they were not the people he thought they were. How much harder for a queen, who had not only her own judgment and experience, but probably a vetting process as well.

Of course she would doubt John's word. He was a stranger to her, and he had every reason to want her to stop chasing Lorne, even to distract her with false accusations in order to make some room for himself and his team to maneuver. Casting doubts on the trusted inner circle of the Queen counted as a pretty good distraction, especially since that would lead her to wonder if the people in on the search might also want Lorne dead. If she couldn't trust those hunting Lorne not to kill him, and if she really wanted him alive as she claimed, then she would have to pull her people out of the field until she could figure out how to tell the treacherous snakes from the loyal subjects. That would give Lorne just the opening he needed to come in on his own, or John himself the opportunity to go and find him.

John wished he'd brought Teyla with him. Given enough time, she could convince anyone of anything and all somehow without raising their ire. But John's abilities of communication were far more limited. Being direct and honest by nature, he could think of only one quick way to convince Jahnavi.

He gestured to the papers Jahnavi still held.

"Show that to one of your scientists, one that doesn't work directly under Rasika. You recognized Rasika's handwriting, so you know she wrote it," John said, then got the sudden sense that he really needed to press his point home while Jahnavi was silent, "Believe me, I'd rather have a peaceful solution, the expense of ammo and manpower being what it is. But if you don't stop Rasika and anyone like her, my people and I will. Now is that clear or do I need to repeat it?"

Jahnavi was silent for a moment, then she rose from her seat. John also stood up, not willing to let her tower over him for so much as a second. She met his gaze evenly, and he got the feeling that he might have just made a critical mistake, one that might get him, his team, Lorne or somebody else hurt.

As they stood staring at one another in that breathless moment, John felt something strange, almost like a premonition. There were a lot of people in the Pegasus Galaxy that he and his team had started off on the wrong foot with, then later become trade partners, or even allies. But John sensed that this would never be the case with the Ntsevu, not with Jahnavi as their queen. He felt a pang of preemptive regret. Queen Jahnavi had some traits that reminded him of Teyla, and he felt that he could like and even respect her under other circumstances. It seemed a shame that they should have to be enemies.

But John reminded himself that he had not started this. Jahnavi had set this chain of events in motion, ultimately it was she who was responsible for any escalation of hostilities between their peoples. To John's way of thinking, the Ntsevu had already declared war in taking Lorne captive. If not for Elizabeth's voice ringing in his ears, demanding diplomacy first, he would not even be talking to Jahnavi as he was now. He sensed that it was a waste of time. Queen Jahnavi had already made her call, talking to her was merely delaying the inevitable.

The Lanteans were in no shape for another war, even on a small scale. But John had a feeling that was what they were headed for. Jahnavi wasn't going to simply give up Major Lorne, and John wasn't about to leave without him. The Lanteans protected their own, and their allies. They drew together and fought to the death over every single one of their own. It was what had taken the Goa'uld so by surprise that they ultimately could not recover from the onslaught, as the Tau'ri not only attacked with relentless courage and ingenuity, but gained the cooperation and loyalty of other and powerful races, uniting them in the fight against the Goa'uld. And that same thing was what had given them the edge over the Wraith. The willingness to sacrifice their lives in the name of their cause, but a tenacious loyalty to one another that went beyond logic and reason. That's what this was about. Ultimately, this wasn't about Lorne at all, it was about the Lanteans, and what they stood for. John could not back down, even if not for his sense of loyalty and morality demanding that he leave no man behind.

Yet he sensed that Queen Jahnavi felt equally that she could not back down from her position. Any cooperation she displayed was therefore a stalling tactic, buying her people time. Time to catch Lorne. Time to do Lord knew what to him. John sensed it as clearly as if she had told him outright. It was a combination of experience and pure gut instinct. Before this was over, someone was going to die.

"I am the Queen of the Ntsevu," Jahnavi reminded him imperiously, her voice hard and her gaze cold as a shard of ice, "I will do whatever is necessary to ensure the survival of my people."

"I'm a colonel in the Air Force," John retorted fiercely, "and I'll do the same damn thing."

* * *

Lorne had no idea that there was fear of war brewing on his account; and that knowledge wouldn't have surprised or even interested him all that much. The fact was, even laying aside that someone had tried to kill him, the Ntsevu had shown hostility towards the Lanteans. Nothing pissed Colonel Sheppard off like one of his people being attacked, except possibly their being killed. It came naturally to Sheppard, and indeed to all of the Lanteans and perhaps even much of humanity, to take such offenses personally.

Major Lorne wasn't inclined to borrow trouble. As a member of the Air Force and the Stargate Program, he encountered trouble enough without speculating about trouble that might not exist, or that wasn't presently troubling him. Even though the poison had nearly killed him, and left him in a weakened condition, Lorne didn't pause to wonder what it was for, or what the implications of Rasika having injected him with it were. He didn't care if the people following him were trying to experiment on him or murder him, he only cared that they did not catch him.

Continuing to travel downriver, Lorne was dismayed to find that it didn't seem to be looking any safer to cross. If anything, it looked worse. On this particular stretch, the banks on the far side were high and steep. The water was moving fast, its flow broken by rocks sharply jutting up from the bottom. That suggested it wasn't terribly deep, but a strong enough current didn't require depth to sweep a grown man off his feet and dash him against the rocks. And that wasn't even factoring in Lorne's weakened state or the fact that he would need to cross the river and then cross back in the dark.

Lorne knew he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Though he didn't especially feel hungry, he knew he was getting weaker, and would continue to do so as he burned calories he didn't have in the race to survive. He was pretty sure he could make it to the Stargate before collapsing, assuming nothing further damaged his health, but that was also assuming no obstacles in his way. It was a good bet that there would be Ntsevu patrols between here and the 'Gate.

Even given the assumption that the Ring Hill was a safe zone, Lorne wasn't sure he could get there if his path to the goal was littered with Ntsevu soldiers. It would take time to go around them, to backtrack, and to flee if they happened to catch sight of him. And that was another thing: Lorne didn't think he had the energy for an all-out chase. It was one thing to stay a step ahead of trackers, it was quite another to bolt through a forest with hunters hot on your heels. Lorne had done both, and one was a far slower drain on the energy reserves than the other.

Lorne didn't want to cross the river. He wasn't too macho to admit there was a better than fair chance that the river would win in a fight. But without food, even water and rest wouldn't sustain him for long. Yet there didn't seem to be another option. Cross the river, or press on.

In the movies, the worst threat was always the pursuers, magically finding and getting ahead of the protagonist at every turn, or for some sort of hideous alien beast to come bashing out of the bushes trying to eat him. What Lorne wouldn't have given for this to be a movie, and for his worst problem to be solvable with the M9 he was carrying.

There was another factor concerning the river Lorne realized he hadn't taken into proper account. By most measures of normal, normally there were four seasons. But many places, both on Earth and other planets, functionally had two. When it came time to change seasons, there was a violent clash between them rather than a slow changing of the guard. He had noticed that -despite warm days- nights here were quite cold, though so far not enough to actually harm him. The temperature swing was pretty extreme, and today had been cooler than previous days. Lorne didn't have many days experience to go on, but he suspected that tonight would be frigid, maybe freezing. If that were the case, the last thing he needed was to be in wet clothing, which was how he would end up if he crossed the river. Even if he could somehow find a gentle, shallow place, inevitably his boots and socks and pants would get a soaking.

As this thought crossed Lorne's mind, he realized the idea of crossing the river had been stupid on the face of it, even though it would at least give those pursuing him fits and at most lose them altogether, which was no small thing. But the cost, both certain and potential, was simply too high.

The fact that the notion of crossing the river was so obviously foolish yet he hadn't realized it until now told him that his thinking was at least beginning to be impaired. As his flight went on, it would become easier for him to misjudge something, or fail to think of something he otherwise would. More and more he was liable to be operating under instinct. That was part of the purpose of extensive military training, ingraining certain types of behavior so deeply that the body remembered and did them even when the brain was distracted or damaged.

But no training could entirely replace the capacity for thinking on the fly. And the ability to think and judge the situation was an advantage Lorne knew he was starting to lose. Being poisoned had taken its toll. He was tired, and bordering on being sick as well.

And still he was a long way from the Stargate. As he had followed it, the river had angled such that he was basically walking a parallel course to the Stargate, traveling miles yet not closing the distance between himself and the objective. Up ahead, the river swung back towards the Ring Hill and he would begin to finally close that gap. But it might prove to be too little, too late.

Lorne had no inkling other than blind faith that Sheppard and the others were even on the planet, let alone looking for him. He had to rely on the assumption that Sheppard was there, and that his own training would be able to carry him to the point where Sheppard could take charge of things.

He was still determined to go home, willing to meet whatever obstacles might bar the way, but he knew that the spirit being willing and the body being able were two different things.

Piled on after everything else, his nearly suicidally stupid consideration of crossing the river had shaken his normally unflappable confidence. As he resolutely turned sidelong to the river and resumed traveling down its rocky banks, Lorne admitted to himself that he was now just a little bit worried.

* * *

Avyan and Karka had left the main hunting party.

In a way, Avyan's lack of training as a hunter gave him an advantage. The Ntsevu hunters were accustomed to animal prey. Every now and then someone might go off the deep end and steal or murder or something and need to be tracked down, but it was somewhat rare. Aside from which, though the valley was quite large, its people knew it well for the most part, even if only by drawn maps. Rather than track the rare criminal through the woods, it was easy to look at a combination of maps and the criminal's typical habits, then predict where they would go, and lie in wait at those points.

But the Major was not an animal, and he did not know the area, nor was there any information as to his habits or training. While the soldiers deferred to the hunters, who relied on their experience hunting animals, Avyan was able to think more outside the box, and he had realized that -unlike an animal- the Major might not avoid hunter-gatherer camps. An animal seeing smoke and fire would avoid a camp, knowing hunters would be there. The Major would also know that, but he might also realize that most significant camps were near sources of water, something he was in dire need of.

The hunters and soldiers disregarded Avyan's suggestions, partially because he was young, but primarily because he lacked the training or experience of themselves.

Avyan would likely have accepted their shutting him down, but Karka was irked by the behavior of the hunters and soldiers. It seemed to her that they were behaving as if they were superior to herself and Avyan, despite the fact that she and he were royal scientists and that alone should have earned them some respect. She and Avyan were also used to working with each other, meaning she trusted his judgment much more than these others, whom she knew by face and name solely because the Ntsevu were so few in number that it was almost impossible not to know each other on sight. Beyond that, however, they were strangers to her.

Beyond even that, she and Avyan had spent the most time with the star travelers before the Major was imprisoned, and she felt that made herself and Avyan the reigning experts on the off-worlders. And anyway she was tired of sleeping on the ground. If Avyan's hunch didn't play out, the worst that could happen was that they would be obliged to return to the city, where there would be a proper meal and soft beds waiting for them.

While the others continued to search along the foothills for signs of spoor, Avyan and Karka went back to the rocky place where the tracks had been lost after the Major had doubled back. Avyan was working under the theory that the Major had not -as the hunters and soldiers assumed- continued to follow his own tracks all the way back to the mountains. Instead, Avyan suspected the Major had stayed on this rocky area, and from there had seen smoke that he'd followed to a source of water.

Though it was daylight and no fires were burning, both Avyan and Karka could look around and guess which camp it was that the Major would have seen. Together they set off in that direction.

"If you had told me that day on Ring Hill before the star travelers came through that all of this would happen and that we -royal scientists no less- would be stomping about in the woods, hunting for a N'we, I would have said you were crazy," Karka remarked as they made their careful way over a rough area of uneven and sometimes sharp rocks.

"As would I," Avyan replied evenly, wobbling as a rock turned under his foot, but then regaining his balance with ease that was increasing with practice, "Yet here we are."

Karka paused, looking around with a sudden rush of nerves that came from the subconscious suspicion that the Major might have doubled back yet again, and was now stalking them. Despite his overt friendliness almost from the start, and his god-awful sense of humor, Karka could not shake the fierceness in his blue eyes the moment he had stepped through the Stargate. She needed no training or experience to feel on an instinctual level that, had he found her the slightest bit threatening, he would have had little difficulty in killing both her and Avyan in a mere blink. Nor could she forget the casual way he had talked about Wraith before Queen Jahnavi, as if they were a mere nuisance to him and his people, rather than a dire threat to their very existence. Yet again her wariness seemed without merit, for the Major did not come out of the bushes to attack them. Indeed, there was no sign of him at all.

"Avyan," Karka said, "What do you think we should do if we find him? It's not as if we can overpower him. We're not even armed."

This was not strictly true. Even though they seldom did their own hunting and gathering, royal scientists in the field did carry a minimum of weaponry with which to defend themselves from potential marauding beasts. But that was very different from being armed as the city guards were. And the weapons the star travelers carried had proven to be on another level entirely.

"Even if we did, we would still have to turn him over to the Queen's guards," Avyan replied, "And I believe that would be a mistake."

"As do I," Karka admitted reluctantly, "Queen Jahnavi would simply imprison him again. She sees only that we need the blood of the N'we. I don't think she realizes how dangerous the star travelers are."

Avyan nodded without speaking.

"She is so deeply mired in the belief that the N'we are the key to our salvation that she refuses to even consider that there may be other options," Karka went on.

It was a conversation very similar to one she and Avyan had already had. Though the research on how to get over, around or through the mountains was ostensibly to give the Ntsevu more places to run and hide, it was known but unspoken by all that the true purpose was to seek the N'we. There had to be more people outside the valley, and there might be N'we among them. That was the real truth.

Karka and Avyan had discussed that truth when they were plotting how to convince Queen Jahnavi to allow them to study the Stargate. Neither of them believed the N'we were the ultimate answer. Karka even doubted there were any N'we outside the valley. Avyan said little of his own beliefs on the matter, but he made it perfectly plain that he at least believed there was another, possibly better, answer.

"But what can we do with him, if not bring him back to the city?" Karka mused aloud, "Not that he'd let us do that anyway. What's even the point in tracking him?"

"Send him home," Avyan said without hesitation, saying what they had both been thinking but Karka was too afraid to say, "It's the only way we're going to stop this war before it starts."


	11. Chapter 11

As a concession to the conversation John and the Queen were pretending to be having with one another, John agreed for his team to leave the palace, taking the vial Rodney had found with them. Both John and Jahnavi knew that what was actually going on was that Jahnavi was trying to stall in order to buy time for whatever the hell she intended to do and John was pretending that he believed she was genuinely interested in trying to forge friendly relations between their peoples.

John wondered if they were fooling anyone.

As the team left the palace, trying to ignore the increasingly hostile stares they were getting from the city residents, Rodney moved close to John and whispered, "That woman is completely insane."

"Who? Jahnavi?" John asked.

"What? No. I mean, maybe, but no," Rodney shook his head, "I'm talking about Rasika, that so-called 'scientist.' I may not have a degree in medicine, but a few minutes looking at her notes and I'd be surprised if she's not waiting for the Coming of the Great White Handkerchief."

"Is that a Hitch Hiker's Guide reference?" John inquired, rather startled by Rodney's choice of imagery.

"Yes," Rodney confirmed, "What? I read!"

Teyla and Ronon looked at each other. Ronon shrugged. They were often in the dark about what John and Rodney were discussing. Even aside from lacking the shared culture (and therefore the points of reference, in more ways than one) of the two Earthlings, John and Rodney had a somewhat unique way of conveying complex ideas to one another, that seemed to mostly involve haughty expressions of frustration from Rodney and blatant impatient derision from John.

"So what, is she writing the Anti-ATA Gene Bible or something?" John asked.

"No, they _are_ research notes. But I've spent my entire career reading notes just like that, and I think I know fanaticism when I see it."

"Meaning..." John prompted when Rodney failed to go on.

"Meaning she wasn't just trying to kill Lorne because she happened to feel threatened by him," Rodney said, "She was doing it because she thinks N'we -people with the ATA gene- are evil."

"She's a damn witch hunter," John hissed angrily as comprehension dawned, "And Major Lorne weighs the same as a duck."

"Monty Python?" Rodney asked.

"What? I watch movies."

"Is it not likely," Teyla intervened gently, "that she is not the only one who believes this of the Major?"

John knew she was right. It would not have been the first time someone associated with the Stargate program was hunted by the equivalent of an angry mob with pitchforks and torches. In the Milky Way Galaxy it was usually the Jaffa or Tok'Ra with their symbiotes, and here in Pegasus it was those who could sense the Wraith. Seldom was it those with the genetic mark of the Ancients.

If even a few of the hunters after Lorne were seeking to kill him on sight, that changed the landscape of the situation considerably, especially if Lorne was aware of it. Still, though it changed how things felt, John didn't see how they could be handling it differently. It would make no sense to charge off into the woods on the off-chance that his team might stumble across Lorne before the Ntsevu did. Even so, that's exactly what John wanted to do. He was increasingly uncomfortable with Lorne's being out there by himself. John had to sternly remind himself that Lorne had actually experienced worse. Lorne had a knack for getting into trouble, but he had an equal talent for survival.

"Do you think Jahnavi's in on it?" John asked.

John really believed Jahnavi was trying to do right by her people. Up to now he'd assumed that meant she wanted to recapture Lorne and take the power his ATA gene granted him. But was it possible she believed he was an evil that must be eradicated in order to protect her people?

"I do not believe so," Teyla ventured, "If it were, would she not have attempted to prevent our looking at Rasika's notes, rather than encouraging us to do so?"

"Well she's obviously trying to buy time," Rodney pointed out.

"I agree," Teyla said, "But I do not believe she is so foolish that she would not realize how seeing such text would ignite our anger. She does not know us well, and it would not be unreasonable for her to think that in our rage we might burn such notes on sight, and kill anyone associated with them."

"Don't think I wasn't tempted," Rodney muttered, then added after looking around to be sure he was out of earshot of any Ntsevu, "After all, the stuff in this vial is just as deadly to me as it is to Lorne."

In fact, it was probable that it was even more deadly to Rodney, not because he had the gene artificially, but because his general health was overall a lot more fragile than Lorne's.

It hadn't taken them long to walk nearly to the edge of the city. They looked at the temple, the storm-center for all of this trouble, but they did not approach it. It was not surprising that all of this had happened because of the ATA gene, the shocking thing was that it had all started because Major Lorne walked through an open door and turned on the lights. That's it. That's all he'd done.

For that he had been imprisoned on the Queen's order.

For that, Rasika -and probably others as well- wanted to kill him.

"What do we do now?" Rodney asked.

John had been thinking about that. He didn't think there was anything useful he and Jahnavi could say to each other at this point, it had already all been said, or not said. Regardless of how she chose to deal or not deal with Rasika, the fact remained that Jahnavi still wanted Lorne back, and John knew he would not be able to dissuade her from that. Any further conversation with her would thus be a waste of his time. If John was going to waste his time, he would rather do it back at Atlantis.

He did have that half-constructed model car he and Rodney had been building from spare bits of things they found around the city, or had leftover from equipment, or picked up off-world. Now _that_ was a fine way to waste time. Not that he intended to do that, of course. It was just that if he was going to participate in a complete waste of time, he might as well enjoy it.

Since he wasn't going to do that, there was no point in hanging around here waiting to talk to Jahnavi again. The Queen and he had already reached as much understanding as they were ever going to.

Even given Ronon's expertise in wilderness survival, Lorne and the Ntsevu hunters had too much of a head start for the team to overtake either party except by purest chance, making that a bigger waste of time than hanging around to talk to Jahnavi. Everybody knew where Lorne was ultimately trying to go, and the Ring Hill was already Lantean controlled. The only unknown was the route Lorne would take to reach the Ring Hill, and that would be largely dependent on the terrain and what he had to do in order to evade pursuit. Aside from deploying a veritable army and taking over more and more of the surrounding area (impractical, if cool sounding), there wasn't much that could be done on that front.

There were a lot of theatrical movie stunts John could think of. Taking the queen hostage, for instance. Attacking the palace guards and forcing them to surrender. Revealing he too had the ATA gene and offering himself in exchange for Lorne, or else trying to awe the Ntsevu into submission. John had even done a few of those stunts and more elsewhere. But he didn't feel like they'd work here, and in all likelihood any one of them would simply make a bad situation much, much worse.

"Might as well head back to the 'Gate," John said, "Take that vial to Beckett if all this is still goin' on by the time we get there, let him analyze it, make sure it's the same stuff described in the notes."

Nobody looked comfortable with that. It felt like their trip out here had been practically for nothing, and there didn't seem much point in getting the vial's contents tested, since it would ultimately make no difference to what they did next. But nobody said anything because they couldn't think of anything more useful to do. John knew Ronon would rather go crashing through the bushes, Teyla would prefer to stay and try to reason with Jahnavi and Rodney... well Rodney had obviously been hoping John would think of something that wasn't a waste of time because he himself couldn't. But all three of them knew that their own preference would only be more comfortable for them, it wouldn't really accomplish anything more useful.

Besides, they all trusted John as their leader, and were perhaps hoping that he saw something they didn't or that he actually had an idea he was choosing not to tell them right now. Actually maybe that was just Teyla and Ronon. A combination of brilliance and pessimism most likely gave Rodney full insight into the truth, which was that John didn't know what more they could do, aside from formally declare war and start the killing that would entail.

Maybe it would come to that, but John wasn't ready to go there yet. If Lorne could just make it back alive, then either the Lanteans could simply leave, or else renew negotiations between themselves and the Ntsevu on much more secure and less tense footing.

Part of what made this plan the best was that maybe the time wouldn't be entirely wasted. There was the very real chance Lorne had been poisoned, and at least an off-chance that knowing more about the poison might help Beckett's team cure him; not to mention at least a slight possibility that John, Rodney or someone else with the ATA gene might be poisoned with the same stuff at some future time. But it also gave John a better than fair excuse to pull back his personnel, thus having them all collected at a semi-secure location should things suddenly get much worse (as they seemed likely to).

For all that, it felt a helluva lot like not only retreating, but actually giving up.

John knew their mission out here hadn't been a failure. He'd met Jahnavi and seen who she was firsthand. Jahnavi had likewise met him now, and knew who she would be facing if she insisted on pursuing her present course. Besides, it fulfilled Elizabeth's requirement for diplomacy first. John had made his show of confidence, and Jahnavi had revealed either weakness or a cunning he did not believe she possessed in letting him do so virtually unchallenged.

Still, it felt pretty anticlimactic and even wrong to go trekking back to the Stargate without having won Jahnavi over or having retrieved Major Lorne. Nobody wanted to take the first step in that direction, so John took the lead towards the road that led back to Ring Hill. The others followed.

As it turned out, they didn't wind up getting that far.

They'd been on the road only a few minutes when they heard someone running after them. They stopped to wait, and John at least was somewhat surprised that it was Mitali.

"The Major has been spotted by hunters near the Nambu!" Mitali exclaimed breathlessly.

The team stared at him in silence for about three or four seconds, then John said, "The what now?"

"The Nambu," Mitali repeated, then clarified, "It is a river. The Queen's soldiers are being dispatched to intercept him," he continued, adding proudly, "I am a hunter, I know a shorter way."

Every instinct of the warrior in John screamed that this was a trap, designed to lure the team away from Lorne, perhaps even to lead them into some kind of ambush where they could be overpowered and gotten out of the way. But something else told him to trust Mitali for the moment.

"Why are you telling us?" Rodney asked suspiciously, and John was grateful to him for it.

"I am not stupid," Mitali snapped rather impatiently, "I have seen the look in your eyes in the eyes of an animal when I or another has taken its young. Such an animal will kill anyone it must in order to reach its offspring. You are no different, except that you are a man. An animal will lose interest the moment its offspring is dead, knowing it can do nothing more. But a man will hold a grudge."

Rodney glanced at John to see if he was buying this. But John was looking steadily at Mitali, deciding whether or not he believed what the young Ntsevu hunter was saying.

"If you do not come quickly, the soldiers will reach the Nambu River before we do," Mitali said.

John was silent for a moment, and the team waited for him to make his decision. Even Rodney said nothing while John thought, which was something of a surprise. Rodney always had something to say.

"Okay," John said finally, almost to his own surprise, "Lead us to the Nambu."

Maybe he'd get to do a movie stunt after all.

* * *

Too late, Lorne had spotted the Ntsevu hunters on the other side of the river, crouching near the bank. The hunters were not among those assigned to search for Lorne, but they had heard to keep an eye out for such a stranger. They were at the riverside, sandy at this section, checking for animal tracks and refilling their water-skins. They had been hunting without success for most of the day. Prey was beginning to grow thin, a sure sign of winter. The animals always knew before the people that a freeze was coming, and they would disappear from their usual haunts. But the hunters would persist for a bit longer before changing to their winter tactics, because they didn't want to dip into their food stores too soon and find themselves starving by the end of winter.

Lorne didn't know this, of course, couldn't know they weren't after him. What he did know was that the hunters he'd seen when he'd stayed the night in a camp before moving on toward the city had good enough range weapons to hit him at this distance. He immediately bolted for cover.

He didn't know how the Ntsevu communicated, his weary brain still hadn't recognized the obvious fact that they could not be using radios, so instant communication was impossible. It was just as well, because the notebirds were faster than a messenger running on foot would be, allowing news to go quite a distance in a relatively short period of time. Better to overestimate the enemy than to underestimate them, at least in this case.

Once under the cover of trees and brush, Lorne came to a stop, listening to see if he was being pursued. He didn't expect the hunters to try and cross the river to reach him, but was listening just in case they did. He was also listening in case there might be more Ntsevu on this side of the river that he hadn't noticed. Given the shout of surprise from the hunters across the river, anybody in hearing range on this side was bound to investigate. Lorne needed to know how much time he had to get lost.

There was no splashing to indicate anyone had jumped in the water. There was no nearby rustling or shouting to indicate anybody on this side either. But Lorne assumed there would be, probably sooner than he expected. This mistake was going to cost him.

Not only would he now have to leave the river, he was also off the hard rock. The ground here was soft, the brush thick, and Lorne would inevitably leave a trail a blind man could follow.

Worse, if what he had done before had fooled his pursuers at all, the information those hunters would send as to his whereabouts would allow them to follow a chain of logic, revealing exactly what he'd done. He wouldn't be able to fool them the same way twice once they'd figured out how he'd done it. If he'd stayed well ahead of them, that would have been alright. But now they wouldn't be combing the woods in the area they'd lost his trail, they would be coming straight here. That would take far less time than the method Lorne had used to reach this point, especially since they were liable to have far fewer physical limitations, and the advantage of knowing the land.

He didn't know that the people closest on his trail didn't want to harm him. He didn't know that Sheppard's team would also be tipped off and headed this way. He didn't know how completely wrong the original hunters on his trail had been about where he'd gone to begin with. All he knew was that trouble was now coming right for him, and that he had to somehow get out of its way.

As ever, there were choices to be made.

Lorne could continue directly away from the river. That would take him away from the Stargate as well. Eventually, he would find himself back in the foothills. He didn't know what lay between here and there, but he did know that venturing onto the foothills with what was bound to be close pursuit behind him would be suicidal. That meant he'd have to turn back at some point, and hope to duck and dodge around however many Ntsevu might be fanned out to try and catch him. He assumed they would realize his options in that direction were limited and that he would eventually have to turn back the way he'd come.

He could make a beeline for the Stargate. But that's exactly what he would be expected to do, and they now had a better grasp of how fast he could travel, not to mention having known exactly where he was a short time ago. Since they knew what route he was going by now, they were bound to send soldiers on the road (if they hadn't already) who would then come back up the river and intercept him.

Another option was that he could go to ground, try to hide in the brush and avoid being seen. Had pursuit immediately followed his being spotted, Lorne would have had no choice but to do this as he was really in no shape to outrun the hunters. Since it had not, he had other options.

Aside from surrender, which he had no intention of doing, Lorne's only other option seemed to be to retrace his steps upriver, hoping that the Ntsevu would be angling towards his last known position from elsewhere, rather than following close behind. Even if they were close behind, they would not expect him to turn back, would not be beating the brush for him until they got past where he'd last been seen (at least that's what he hoped). But it would again be taking him straight away from the Stargate, back towards where he knew a camp was nearby, and eventually back to the city. If he circled back and resumed towards the Stargate, he would have whatever the full force of the Ntsevu people looked like barring his way.

All of his options seemed equally terrible, and Lorne felt a surge of frustration. He couldn't keep this game of cat and mouse up forever. In fact, he'd already calculated that he'd barely be able to make it to the Stargate as it was. Worse, he was so close to that goal. The valley looked a lot different when he was in it versus when he'd looked at it from Ring Hill (in fact he hadn't seen this river from there at all), but he was pretty sure he was recognizing a few of the trees that he'd seen from a distance.

He took a breath and settled down. It didn't do any good to think about how close he'd been. It didn't do any good to think about how far he'd come. Frustration was a waste of energy. Energy he didn't have.

It was time for Lorne to run again.


	12. Chapter 12

"You sent for me, my Queen?" Rasika inquired, bowing slightly even though Jahnavi was facing away from her and wouldn't know the difference, and there was no one else in the library.

"I did," the Queen replied curtly, feigning keen interest in the titles on the shelf even though she knew their names and where each sat on the shelf by heart.

Rasika and Queen Jahnavi had known each other for a very long time. Ntsevu royalty was frequently short of friends, as were royal scientists in training.

Because both were dramatically pleasing to the eye even as young girls, they were doubly lonely. Adults did not really see them, but only their visual appeal, and judged them according to their bent. For example, some adults saw their lovely if very differently defined faces and thought they could do no wrong. Other adults saw their beguiling eyes and enchantingly flowing hair, and saw them only as potential temptresses who would forever be seeking to use their looks to get out of the work for which they were being trained, and who would always have thoughts of desire at the forefront of their minds. As they matured, it became apparent that men were often struck dumb by their beauty, and women were filled with jealousy at the way their men (or men they wished were theirs) looked at both princess and young royal scientist. And of course all this aside from the distance that was naturally created by their very titles.

Thus had Jahnavi and Rasika struck up a friendship borne of necessity. Not only were they both beautiful beyond measure, but they were quite differently so. While still in their teens with thoughts of male companionship interfering with their focus on their respective duties, they appealed to different men, and so never found themselves competing for the affections of the same man.

As the natural cycles of age, illness and death caused each to ascend to her current position, both found they no longer had any time or energy for romantic pursuits. Someday Jahnavi would have to, in order to bear a successor, but she was still fairly young, and there would be time for that. As things stood now, each understood why the other was alone, did not ask those nagging questions others did such as when she would get married, when she would have children, if she had any prospects she was thinking about. As Queen and head Royal Scientist, they both had responsibility to protect and care for the Ntsevu people. Neither was lonely because neither had time to be.

Though they had grown distant over the years from a combination of being busy with their work and often disagreeing on various issues (though of course Rasika always deferred to Jahnavi in the end, and it was well understood between them that it would be so regardless of how vehemently she argued her position), Rasika could still read Jahnavi's moods with ease.

Right now the Queen was upset. Angry and frightened both. Her voice always became low and edged with frost when she was angry, but if she were merely angry she would meet one's gaze steadily, her eyes flecked with ice. She only turned her back and avoided visual contact when trying to conceal fear. But if she were only afraid, she would speak in unnaturally level tones as she had been trained to because a queen should never show her fear.

"I am told you did not merely defend yourself when the N'we attacked you," Queen Jahnavi said quietly, "but that you intended to kill him."

Jahnavi had always felt strongly that the N'we were the only way to truly save her people. Rasika had disagreed, but it had always been a moot point because there were no N'we left. Rasika was of course not the only one to have thought that, in fact she would have been unable to research and develop a poison that affected only the N'we if not for those who came before. She had required not only the research materials on the N'we themselves, but on previous attempts to create poisons that would affect only them. But it had been Rasika's breakthrough, a pet project of hers that could have no real use nor even a real testing because there were no N'we. But there was always the off-chance that their might be N'we beyond the mountains, which was where Rasika felt the salvation of the Ntsevu lay.

"And do you believe that?" Rasika asked cautiously.

She had never told Jahnavi that she was one of the few who believed the N'we were truly evil, that they must be destroyed regardless of the consequence, because it had never seemed to matter. Where there were no N'we, there was no need to debate whether they were a source of salvation or evil in the world. Rasika and Jahnavi disagreed about enough things that did matter without also arguing over things that didn't. Rasika had never expected a N'we to simply stumble through the Stargate, in fact she had prayed to never see one so she would never have to do what she had tried to do.

Equally cautious, Jahnavi replied, "Do you deny it?"

Always they had been able to rely on one another for honesty, even if it let to argument. But the star travelers had upset the balance, and this incident with the N'we might change everything. If Rasika admitted the truth, that she had gone against her queen's orders, that she had taken the N'we from his cell, that she had tried to poison him, that he had attacked her only in self defense, Jahnavi was sure to arrest her. The N'we would be recaptured, and research on how to spread his evil would resume. Perhaps that evil would one day reside within Jahnavi.

It pained her to conceal the truth from her friend and queen, but Rasika saw it was the only way. She had used the poison to hide the cause of death. N'we had died of mysterious causes before. If she could have been certain that Major Lorne was the last of his kind, Rasika would have been willing to simply shoot him or stab him or otherwise kill him in a safer, more efficient manner, and would take whatever punishment she had to. But she was certain that there were more of his kind. If not among the star travelers, then over the mountains. To protect the Ntsevu, it was essential that Rasika maintain her position within the power structure, so that she would have access to see that every one of them was eventually destroyed. They were simply too dangerous to risk leaving alive.

But she could not quite bring herself to lie outright to Jahnavi's face. It had been hard enough to concoct the false story she told the guards, knowing they would relay it to Jahnavi. To the guards she had always lied freely when it suited her. It was just that this time she was indirectly lying to her friend and queen. But how could she not? Too much was riding on this for her to tell the truth.

"You know me," Rasika said, and hoped it would be enough.

"As you know me," Jahnavi said, but Rasika heard the frost beginning to melt.

Rasika dared to cross the room and stand beside Jahnavi. She too feigned interest in the books, though she knew them quite as well as Jahnavi did.

Jahnavi took a deep breath, to steady her voice, "I am beginning to doubt the N'we are what I had always believed. I can only see the Major's sudden attack on you and my guards as an act of wanton evil. Had he resisted capture, or at any earlier point attempted to escape or refuse to be studied, then I could believe it was mere fear or wildness. No one wishes to be caged, after all," Jahnavi paused, "but to have been so passive for so long, then to suddenly attempt to kill you... there can be only one explanation for it; that he does not want us to gain the power of the N'we. He does not want us to be able to defend ourselves from the Wraith. I can see only one reason for that."

"He seeks to aid the Wraith," Rasika said.

This was not only what Jahnavi was implying, it was what Rasika had always believed. Those texts suggesting that the last of the N'we had purposely let the Wraith through, willingly allowing the Ntsevu to be culled were compelling, especially when coupled with the private notes of some of the scientists of the time. It made too much sense to be untrue.

"I do not know if he is allied with the Wraith, or if he is Wraith himself," Jahnavi said, "I had always assumed I could sense them, but perhaps it is something else with them, or their ships that I sense. We have never seen the Wraith. We do not know what they look like.

"I don't think he is Wraith," Rasika said, though it was a curious thought that had never crossed her mind, "Perhaps he is allied with them. Perhaps he is their slave. I do not care which. But I trust in your ability to sense the Wraith, and we both know them to be more vile than even the most wicked person. N'we could not have walked among us as they once did if they were Wraith. Whatever Wraith truly are, or what they might look like, I am convinced they do not look human."

"The Major must not be allowed to go free," Jahnavi said decisively, and Rasika saw a flash of anger in her queen's eyes, chasing out the fear, "If he escapes, he will tell the Wraith that we have reached a technological level that is potentially dangerous to them. They will come, and they will destroy us."

"And the other star travelers?" Rasika inquired.

"I do not believe they are aware of his treachery, any more than the majority of our people were aware of the evil intent of the N'we. And anyway, we haven't the forces to fight them," Jahnavi said.

"Will they not be angered if we kill the Major?" Rasika asked.

"I have seen enough of their Colonel Sheppard. I believe he would destroy us to reach the Major. But once the Major is dead, he will not seek retribution. He will not risk the lives of his people on petty vengeance. Once the Major is dead, this will be over."

But Rasika saw that Jahnavi still refused to meet her eyes. Despite her strong words, she was afraid of what might come of this. Rasika was as well, but she was glad that at last she and her queen saw eye to eye on this... even if it had taken the omission of the truth to get there.

It would take time for notebirds to locate the hunters and and Queen's guards, time for the change of orders to be known. In the meantime, they could only hope that either the N'we would remain undetected, or that those who captured him would be careful enough that they would not be harmed.

Rasika knew the N'we could do more than simply turn on lights. Much, much more.

It was as she was having these darkening thoughts that one of the Queen's guards who had stayed behind came rushing in. He bowed furtively, and spoke in a rush, saying that the N'we had been spotted near the Nambu, and asked permission to tell a priest to send a notebird at once to the Captain of the Guard, who was out with the hunters and had vowed not to return without the N'we in tow.

"Wait," Jahnavi said, her voice colder than ever as she turned her blue eyes to look steadily at the young guard, "I shall do it myself."

Rasika knew Jahnavi was going to do more than tell them where to find the Major.

She was going to tell them to kill him.

* * *

The change of orders would likely have chilled Karka to the core had she heard it. But of course she hadn't. In fact, neither she nor Avyan had the slightest idea that anyone had spotted the Major. They had followed the river and been pleased to find that where the banks were soft and sandy, their quarry had been absent minded enough to walk and leave tracks.

"He is tired," Avyan remarked.

"Or else not as clever as we thought," Karka said, though she did not believe it.

From listening to the hunters, Karka had learned a little of how the Major moved. From Avyan, she had learned more, and he had suggested how the Major might be thinking as well as moving. From all tracks they had seen, the Major was much too clever to walk on soft ground where there was a better than even chance that some hunter or gatherer would see. In fact, earlier on, when the banks were soft, Avyan and Karka had found no trace of anyone having passed that way until they moved a little way into the brush. The Major could not take the time to cover his tracks, but he did take the effort to make them where they would be least expected.

Yet here he had for some reason changed the habit. And then they came to a spot where the sand had been thoroughly disturbed. Karka was no tracker, but she had seen the furrows woodland animals left when they were startled into suddenly bounding away from something. The sand was like that, kicked every which way, dug into deeply. As if the Major had heard or seen something and sprung away from it, leaping more than running for the cover of the trees.

Even Karka could see the branches that had broken when the Major plunged through them. Feeling a sense of urgency, she actually darted ahead of Avyan, who was still studying the sand.

"Karka, wait!"

She didn't listen. Instead, she followed the heavily smashed brush as far as she could. It turned out not to be very far. Little more than a yard out of sight of the river, the Major had stopped. When he next moved, he had done it more carefully, and Karka couldn't immediately see what had been disturbed.

Avyan caught up with her quickly, looking a rather put out.

"What do you suppose frightened him?" Karka asked.

"Hunters," Avyan replied shortly, "It had to be. Probably on the other side of the Nambu."

Neither of them had to say what they both knew. If hunters had seen the Major, it would not be long before a notebird was dispatched to the city. Even if they had by chance not heard that the hunt was on for an escaped N'we, they would nonetheless dutifully report a strangely clad person they did not recognize. In less time than Karka wanted to think about, another bird would be sent to the Captain of the Guard, and those she and Avyan had left behind would alter their course and come straight here.

Despite all the time he had taken, the Major had ultimately covered little ground, having doubled back at least once. Following the course of the Nambu had also caused him to cut a less than straight path to his destination, almost turning him back the way he'd come at least once on account of the path the river had cut. It wouldn't take long for the hunters and soldiers to arrive. All that ground the Major had so carefully gained. Gone in an instant.

Though a part of her feared him, and another part held him in some contempt for his refusal to take his awesome status as a star traveler seriously, Karka found a new place in herself actually hurt for him. To have done so much to cover his tracks and confuse those following him, only to have it all ruined in a split second by a mistake he'd undoubtedly made because he was overreaching his limits.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't right.

Karka was surprised at herself for this thought. It felt rudely like she was siding against her own people. For what? A stranger? Star traveler or not, that's what he was. Just because she believed the salvation of the Ntsevu lay beyond the Stargate didn't mean that it was at all related to the Major. After all, he had traveled through it just like the Wraith. There was nothing she knew about him that should have made her feel the slightest sympathy for him.

Afraid of the wrath of his people, certainly. But wanting to stop a war between his people and hers was a far cry from feeling sympathy towards him. It wasn't like her, and she wasn't comfortable with it.

She and Avyan had agreed that the star travelers were like a dragon whose kin they had stolen. But it now occurred to her as she stared at Avyan and he stared back that the Major was in his way just like the two of them. Though they had only been young children, Karka remembered that no one had asked her if she wanted to leave her birth family. No one had asked her if she wanted to learn science. No, they had just come and told her that's what she would do. They had done the same with Avyan.

Karka had never noticed it before, how naturally and easily the wilderness came to him, how happy Avyan was when they were in the woods, how quiet and withdrawn when they were indoors. He was born a hunter, but because of a natural aptitude for the learning of science, he had been denied that heritage. It wasn't strictly kidnapping, as parents were complicit in it, but it had never been what Karka or Avyan would have chosen.

The Major had come with the statement of peaceful, friendly intentions. He had come with offers of trade. Though his team had carried weapons, and though there was the gleam of the killer in his eyes when he'd first arrived, he had in no way threatened anyone. All he had done was turn on a light. A light, and for that he was caged and experimented on. He had rebelled, as Karka and Avyan never had. Fought back, and secured his freedom. For that he was now hunted like a wild animal.

The realization made Karka feel slightly ill. She knew that some children didn't want to learn the sciences. They tried to run away from the responsibility. They tried to find their birth families. They tried to escape. Always they were brought back. Always until finally they complied. It had never felt wicked or wrong to Karka, because it was essential to the survival of her people. They were Ntsevu, and running from their duties as such was not an option. If they could simply flee responsibility, their culture would crumble. The people would starve. They would die of disease. They would be destroyed.

But the Major was not Ntsevu. He had no innate tie to them. It was not his duty to serve them. And he had not been raised by them. They had offered him nothing in exchange for what they had tried to take.

That was wrong. That was wicked indeed.

"We have to find him first," Karka said, looking at Avyan steadily, "And we have to send him home."

Avyan looked back, and silently nodded, new resolution in his gaze.

* * *

Major Lorne could not possibly have been less interested in the emotions of the people hunting for him if he'd tried. He didn't care if they had pangs of sympathy, or anger or fear or hatred of him. It was enough that they were hunting him, enough that he was running from them. Caught up in trying to escape and survive, he lacked the time or the energy for anything else.


	13. Chapter 13

Though Mitali had promised it was a shortcut, and had frequently urged them to hurry, it was obvious by the time they reached the section of the Nambu where Lorne had been seen that someone else had gotten there ahead of them. However, they either had not overtaken Lorne at all, or at least not here. There was no sign of struggle, merely of sudden flight.

"Smart enough not to waste energy running," Ronon remarked dryly, "He stopped as soon as he was out of sight of the river."

"Well he obviously didn't stay stopped," Rodney gasped, still slightly short of breath after their run through the woods to get here, "So where did he go?"

"This way," Teyla suggested, having moved on ahead of where Ronon was exploring.

"And two people were following him," Ronon added, taking the lead in the indicated direction.

Rodney hesitated, looking around, "Why would he go this way?"

It was a fair question. The terrain was about equal in all directions from what they could see. The direction Lorne had taken took him away from the river, but any one of several other directions would have done that as well. At first glance, it didn't make a lot of sense.

But they hadn't moved more than a few yards before Mitali, who knew the lay of the land and was less preoccupied with the potential disposition of those following Lorne, figured it.

"This path will take him past the Ring Hill," Mitali said, "There are no hunter or gatherer camps that way. Many animals turn that way when hunted, because they know that we are not there, and that many are too frightened of Ring Hill to go past it."

"Major Lorne wouldn't know that," Rodney said irritably.

"Maybe not," John interjected, "But he can sure as hell go past the hill, then turn back and go up it from behind. That's practically combat tactics one-oh-one. If you can't take something head-on, you try to get around behind it. Doesn't matter if it's a bomber or a base, coming at it from a direction nobody expects gives you an advantage."

"He doesn't know we have the Stargate," Rodney realized, "He's expecting trouble once he gets there."

"More than that," John said, "He knows the people hunting him know where he's going."

John understood that Lorne didn't use the road because he knew there'd be guards there. And now he'd been spotted, he was avoiding making a straight line towards the Stargate from here because there was sure to be an ambush waiting for him, not to mention hunters converging on this position. Lorne was making for the Stargate as truly as if he'd had a map on him, but he wasn't going to approach it the way he was expected to. Something movies tended to forget (though it was most glaring in space battles) was that there are more than four directions, and -unlike in video games- the objective wasn't the end of the world. Ring Hill wasn't up against a cliff face, it was a hill stuck more or less in the middle of a valley.

Even if he found his way to the Stargate barred, Lorne's selected direction gave him the most options of what to do. Other directions were limited because of people or landscape. Keeping your options open was important to survival, particularly on an alien planet, where the unexpected could come up suddenly from any direction, and where humans were very often technologically (and sometimes even physically) outclassed by the enemy.

From what John could see Lorne was thinking exactly as he should to survive. Unfortunately, it looked like he was beginning to overlook some things that should have been obvious. The only reason he'd been spotted was because he'd been walking in the open beside the river. That was the kind of mistake Lorne was normally too smart (and more importantly experienced) to make. Lorne knew better. John knew that from his mission records since joining the Stargate Program, and from having worked with the man as long as he had, often in tight situations. It was a rookie mistake, one Lorne would only have made if he was nearing the limit of his endurance. Lorne was clearly too tired, too rattled, too distracted or too sick to realize what he'd done until it was too late.

Given that there had been a very real possibility that Lorne might have already died due to poisoning, it was reassuring to see how far he'd come, and how well he appeared to be moving based off of the tracks. But since John had already refused to let himself believe Lorne was dead, it was small comfort compared to the knowledge that the Major was fast reaching the end of his rope.

* * *

Lorne no longer had energy or thought for anything very elaborate. Besides, he knew there was little point in pulling the same trick twice, even if he'd felt able. Maybe with only one or two people after him, but the Major knew there were many. How many he wasn't sure. Enough, he knew, to fan out and search for him if they happened to lose his trail.

He didn't know he was yet again overestimating them, that they were used to how animals behaved rather than hunting people, and what few people they might have to track were always familiar with the area. Thus they had made incorrect assumptions about him all along that led them to fall farther and farther behind. Like as not, he could have further confused them if he'd figured out how.

Both Sheppard and Avyan were right, Lorne was tired. In fact, he was past tired.

At this point, he was picking the easiest ground to travel on, though he knew it would give the same advantage to his pursuers later on, and even though it often caused him to leave clear tracks. Steep terrain, heavy brush and especially rocky areas all took more than he had left in him to traverse. Forced into full flight again, perhaps he could make it a little way over such ground, but he couldn't get far.

In addition to everything else, the bruising he'd taken tumbling down the stairs was beginning to make itself felt more strongly. He'd only barely felt it at the time, later on he'd become more aware of it, but it hadn't started really hurting until many hours later.

He stumbled at one point, falling down to one knee, and barely contained a yelp as pain shot up his back, much worse than would normally have been the case, as bruised muscles were strained in the fall. It took him a moment to recover enough to get up. Even when he did, he was shakier than before.

Finally, Lorne accepted that he wouldn't make it to the Stargate. Not on his own. Not without rest.

There was no ideal place to stop, no place that was good to hide or to defend himself. And the pursuit would soon be close, if it wasn't already. Lorne knew there was a likelihood that, wherever he stopped, there he would make his last stand. But for him hope sprang eternal. Perhaps he would be found by Sheppard or someone from his team before anyone else found him. Perhaps he would need only to buy a few extra seconds for them to arrive. Perhaps he'd overestimated the Ntsevu all along, and they would somehow miss the turn off and go right past him. Perhaps they would not catch up until he'd caught his breath and was ready to move on. There were many possibilities that didn't result in his death.

Of course, Lorne had been with the Stargate Program long enough to know that certain individuals and teams had a special kind of luck that seemed to act as a natural protection against all odds. SG-1 was such a team. Sheppard's also was. Lorne trusted Sheppard implicitly to come after him. Lorne wasn't necessarily the brightest person in the room much of the time, but he was wise enough to understand and respect the code of loyalty not only of the US Air Force, but of all members of the Stargate Program. Not just their loyalty, but also sheer faith in one another. Lorne knew Sheppard would come looking for him. What he didn't know was if Sheppard would come soon enough.

Lorne altered course onto one of the rocky areas he'd been avoiding. Moving carefully, he traveled until he found a rocky overhang that was facing so that he would be out of the worst of the wind when the temperature dropped for the night, as it would be doing quite soon. He knew he was cornering himself, that his only means of escape would involve firing on anyone who found him and hoping his aim was steady enough to take them out before he bolted in what was sure to be a practically random direction. But he also knew that he didn't have a choice. At least backed up against the rocks, he limited the angles from which he could be seen or approached, protecting his back and most of either side, forcing anyone coming at him to do so head-on, and to move out of tree and brush cover and onto the open area of the rocks where he could see them and have a clear shot. It wasn't a good plan. In fact, it didn't really qualify as a plan at all. But it was all he had left.

Lorne sank down against the rocks wearily. He checked his M9, found it in the same condition it had been in the last time he'd checked it. He laid it beside him in easy reach and closed his eyes, exhausted. Though he'd told himself not to, he fell asleep almost immediately.

* * *

Evening was falling when the Major stopped, a lucky break for him because it meant the last bits of daylight were fast disappearing by the time Avyan and Karka neared where the Major had left the soft ground in exchange for the rocks. That meant seeing the tracks he'd left was difficult, and it was even harder to tell when they'd stopped. In fact, Avyan and Karka were well past where Lorne had turned off before Avyan realized that they'd lost the trail.

"Do you think he turned back again?" Karka asked, in disbelief that they could have missed the Major yet again, that he could have been right nearby and maybe even watched them as they passed by.

Avyan shook his head, "No point. He knows he was seen at the edge of the Nambu. He has to realize someone will be close behind him. Doubling back now risks meeting them head-on."

"But he didn't head for the Ring Hill. Maybe he's hoping to mislead the hunters in this direction, then double back and mark a straight course for the Ring Hill while they assume he has headed into the wild regions. It would not be the first time he has done something like that."

Avyan shook his head again, "He cannot expect to fool the hunters with the same trick twice. And especially not now he's so close to the Ring Hill. There's never really been anywhere else for him to go, but the closer he gets, the more certain the Queen's guards will be that he has no other plan but to get there. He is surely intelligent enough to expect them to maneuver to block his way."

"Then where has he gone?" Karka asked, slightly exasperated.

She knew the Major could have no way of knowing she and Avyan were following him, much less that they were trying to help, but it was still irksome that the Major was working to make their task more difficult. Moreover, the longer it took them to find him, the more likely it would be that the hunters or soldiers would catch up with them. She and Avyan would be able to do nothing once that happened, not without risking their own careers and possibly their lives. Karka wasn't prepared to risk so much.

"We might as well make camp for the night," Avyan said, not answering Karka's question, "I saw a rocky overhang about a mile back, which should provide adequate shelter to build a fire."

Though they had missed the Major entirely, chance was about to bring them right to him.

Because it was dark and they had convinced themselves that the Major would not be found tonight, they didn't see him at first in the shadows. Avyan became aware of his presence first, but it was Karka who noticed the weapon beside him. The Major was sitting up, but propped against the rocks he could easily have been dead. He was certainly bedraggled enough in his appearance to suggest it.

His tracks said he had moved quickly and with a practiced ease, but Karka was immediately aware of the fact that he was much paler than when they'd last met, and he'd been scratched by branches and thorns. Fine dust had sunk into the black of his clothing and turned it a grayish brown in many places, so clearly he'd more than once hit the ground.

Avyan moved close and crouched down to check if the Major was even breathing, and Karka's mind flashed on all the things she had imagined. Fear sprang into her mind anew, and her eyes fell on the weapon. She had seen other scientists examining the M9, and test firing it. She knew what it could do.

She opened her mouth to warn Avyan to move away, but it was too late. Avyan's touch startled Lorne from sleep, and instinct told the Major he was in danger, under attack. Reflex kicked in, and the Lorne dove to defend himself from the as yet not properly identified danger.

For better or worse, Lorne wasn't awake enough to remember where he'd dropped his pistol. In a flash, he'd twisted in his position and kicked Avyan back away from the rocky overhang. Rolling upright, Lorne launched himself and hit Avyan in the midsection with his shoulder, taking them both to the rocks. Avyan yelped as he hit his back on a mercifully smooth rock and the air was knocked out of him. Ignorant of any abrasions he had sustained in hitting and scraping the rocks, Lorne was immediately above Avyan, intent on taking him out of the fight.

Convinced by her imagination and the certainty of panic that Lorne intended to kill Avyan, Karka had gone for the M9, picked it up and aimed it in the seconds it took the fight to reach this point.

It was fair that she did not consider whether or not Lorne was even aware of who they were, or that they were trying to help. Lorne fought efficiently, and if death was his end objective, he was within a hair's breadth of it, likely to come to his senses too late to stop himself. What was not fair was that Karka had conveniently in this moment of panic forgotten all of Lorne's previous behavior. Not one Ntsevu had been killed in his escape, merely disabled.

But Karka did not take this into account. She had never trained to think fast or act quickly under pressure. There was a steady sort of concern in her daily life that the Wraith might appear at any moment, but that eternal dimly thought of threat was a far cry from Death standing before her, prepared to take her life if she failed to react quickly enough to stop it. So she did not think clearly.

Even as she fumbled with the safeties as she had seen done before the scientists in the lab could fire the M9, Karka's thoughts did not clear. Though there was little recoil when she did fire the M9, Karka flinched backward and screamed as if it had bitten her. The sound was so much louder than she had expected, and she hadn't been prepared for the weapon to jump as though taking on a life of its own. The top part of it seemed to snap back at her, as if it were a snake trying to bite her for attacking its master. She dropped the weapon and stared dumbly at it, surprised to find that it somehow looked just exactly as it had before she'd picked it up, as if it had not spat Death from its muzzle or tried to bite.

Dazed as her mind slowly began to impress concepts besides panic on her, making her wonder if she'd really just seen and done all that, she wasn't sure whether she'd even hit anything or not. She didn't at first dare look to see if Avyan was alive, if the Major was down. She simply stared at the gun, half-convinced that it would become animate and try to kill her. Dully, heart beat pounding in her head, Karka tore her gaze from the gun. Avyan was still on his back on the ground. But now the Major was also on the ground beside him.

Her hands flew to her mouth as it hit her. She and Avyan had come to help the Major. Had she just killed him? She'd never killed anyone before! Disbelief swarmed into her consciousness, and at last the panic broke enough for her to question whether the Major had really been trying to kill Avyan, to realize that the Major was probably even more frightened than she'd been seconds ago. The Ntsevu really _were_ hunting him, trying to hurt him. If her own wild imaginings were enough to drive Karka to shoot someone who had done nothing to her, how much more driven to act must the Major have been?

" _What have I done?"_

The shock of the bullet ripping through his side had brought Lorne down almost before the force of the impact. It was far from the first time Lorne had been wounded, but he had never been hit by the bullet from an M9. The combination of the well-familiar sound and sudden almost numbing pain as he collapsed to his side served to immobilize him for several seconds.

He had wakened from an exhausted sleep to find someone almost on top of him, and there had been no time to process who it was or what they wanted. He'd sought only to decisively eliminate any potential threat before sitting back to try and judge things partially because his mind was muddled and tired, but also because his body wouldn't stand up to a prolonged battle.

Only once he was on the ground did it occur to him that there'd been surprisingly little fight in the person he'd tackled. Deep fatigue and a bizarre spurt of adrenaline combined to make him for a moment wonder if it had been a friend he'd attacked, if the bullet had come not from his own gun but someone else's. But that thought was rejected almost as soon as it had formed.

For one thing, anybody in the field was a much better shot than that. For another, they would not have risked hurting the person he'd attacked, a very real possibility considering how close Lorne had been to him and how fast they'd both moved. Lastly, even if they thought Lorne was beyond reasoning with, it would take little enough to overpower him, especially if it were Sheppard's team, which sported the most powerful fighters in all of Atlantis. Ronon could have halted Lorne in an instant, without the need for a weapon. No, it didn't make sense.

He was distracted by a stricken and pained sounding cry, which he felt was actually quite rude. If there was anyone here who deserved to sound stricken and pained, it was him. He had been shot, after all, so it was only fair. But the sound seemed to have come from the person who'd done the shooting.

Dimly, Lorne heard.

"Avyan! Avyan, wake up!" a feminine voice, somewhat familiar, but too hard to place, "Avyan! Wake up! I've shot him! I need you to wake up and help me!"

* * *

Not far away, John heard the explosive sound of the gun firing, and he knew _exactly_ what had been done. What he didn't know was who had done it. For the obvious reasons, he and the others assumed the M9 had been fired by Major Lorne. But that did not negate the thrill of fear that pushed through John as he and the team ran in the direction of the sound.

Lorne would not be firing his gun idly. If Lorne was shooting, someone was trying to kill him.


	14. Chapter 14

Tentatively, Lorne tested out his ability to move one of his arms. Painfully, but he could do it. He located the part of his side where the bullet had torn through, and flinchingly examined it. It hurt too, but he was a far cry from bleeding out. Luckily for him, the shooter was a miserable shot, and they'd very nearly missed him entirely, succeeding only in slicing through some muscle, but seemingly nothing more vital. It still hurt though, enough to keep Lorne on the ground, at least for the moment.

There didn't really seem to be a lot of point in trying to get up anyway. Though he hadn't made any attempt to look at the two people that were here, it seemed that the hostility -if indeed there had ever been any- had gone out of them. Still, the fact remained that Lorne was in less shape than ever to continue his journey. Lorne knew he was beat. There simply wasn't any point in trying to deny that.

Suddenly the shooter was next to him, "I shot you, I shot, I, I shot you, I shot-" she was babbling at him, and he was pretty sure she was crying too.

He remembered her now from the day he'd arrived, but couldn't quite retrieve her name from his memory. He was in no condition to deal with a hysterical person. He had enough problems of his own.

"Yes," he answered her, gingerly keeping pressure on the wound, "I did notice that."

She stared at him, looking half-angry. He remembered that look from when they'd met. It had always come after one of his idiot jokes. But while they had clearly annoyed her, they had also somewhat disarmed her, making her less guarded and suspicious, more comfortable and friendly with Lorne and his team. The effect now was to stop the babbling and the tears.

Suddenly she laughed, more as a release for her anxiety than because she was amused.

"Yes," she said, "I suppose you would."

She took a couple of swipes at her face with one hand, trying to wipe away the tears. After a moment, she looked at him again, looking keenly embarrassed.

"Um... does it hurt very much?" she asked, worriedly pushing stray hair out of her face.

Lorne recognized at once that she'd gone from hysteria to a sort of child-like state, thinking simple things were funny and asking ridiculous questions, not uncommon after trauma. Lorne had seen a lot of it firsthand. That meant she was still useless to him, but maybe she could be coaxed into a more helpful state. In any case, the worst she could do was shoot him again.

"Yes," he answered mildly, "It actually does. I don't recommend getting shot."

She laughed again, more shakily than before, but also more genuinely.

"I hope you won't hold it against me that I'm a terrible shot," she said, venturing a small smile.

"No, no... I think I prefer it that way," Lorne replied honestly.

She laughed, her voice steadying again as she recovered her sense of internal balance, coming to terms with the horrors of the last few moments, accepting them and coming to face the current reality.

"I'm sorry," she said, her smile vanishing, "Avyan and I came to help, and now look what we've done."

Lorne slowly pushed himself to a sitting position, wincing as he did so. Karka. That was her name. Her brow furrowed with concern as she watched him. He supposed the guy he'd tackled must be Avyan. That seemed right. It was a little difficult to concentrate.

"Pro tip," Lorne suggested, "Never shoot the people you're trying to help."

Anger flared in her eyes momentarily, "Well you attacked Avyan," then it faded and she looked embarrassed again, "And then I panicked. I didn't know what else to do."

"Speaking of... you didn't happen to shoot him too while you were at it?"

"No," Karka said, "But I can't get him to wake up."

"Ah," Lorne acknowledged, "Well that might be my fault. I did hit him on the way down. Probably not hard enough to do any permanent damage to him."

Karka nodded and sniffled, but said nothing further.

Lorne was pleased that Karka was beginning to regain control of herself. But of course he was most pleased that she didn't appear inclined to shoot him again. She'd even said something about trying to help; and help was something he was in dire need of. On the other hand, he wasn't sure about help from someone who had just shot him, regardless of her excuse. Still, it wasn't like there were people lining up to lend their assistance, and it was a sure thing at this point that he wasn't getting home on his own.

A sudden crashing sound from the brush somewhere behind him made Lorne jump.

"The hunters!" Karka hissed, and Lorne agreed with that guess.

He didn't bother with trying to get his legs under him. Instead, he simply rolled to where the M9 had dropped. He ended his roll on his side, managing to protect his wound only a little with his free arm. He wasn't entirely successful in withholding the hiss of pain that formed in his throat, but he did have his weapon in hand and leveled at where the noise was coming from.

A portion of his mind knew he stood no chance. He'd counted tracks when he'd doubled back, and he knew the hunters and soldiers had the bullets left in his M9 hopelessly outnumbered. Besides which, though a part of what made them so good for members of the Stargate Program who lacked military training was that M9s had a very mild recoil, the first fired shot was going to send that recoil all the way through him, touching on battered and bruised muscles and nerves, and especially his open wound. Even so, trained reflex forbade him to sit there and do nothing, make no attempt to save his own life.

He wasn't born that way, and he hadn't been trained that way either.

The person crashing through the brush was large, powerful, moving unbelievably fast. Almost before he'd come into view, Lorne had identified Ronon. Breathing in relief, he lowered his M9. Right behind Ronon came Teyla, then Sheppard. Weapons flashed in various directions, lighting on Lorne first, identifying him as friendly, then moving to Karka, who squeaked and raised her hands.

"Colonel," Lorne said, looking up at Sheppard without even trying to change his position.

Sheppard immediately knew everything Lorne wasn't able to verbalize. He sensed whatever threat had been here was gone now. He heard how very glad Lorne was to see him. And he also heard the pain and weariness in the Major's voice. The one word told him everything he needed to know.

"Major," Sheppard acknowledged, "Elizabeth seems to think you are extremely late for work."

Lorne laughed a little bit, but then winced. Despite his flippant words, Sheppard was almost immediately at Lorne's side, turning him over, helping him sit up, looking for damage.

"You've been shot," Rodney said as he finally arrived in the clearing.

"Yes I have," Lorne replied coolly.

"He says he doesn't recommend it," Karka volunteered.

"You didn't like getting shot?" Sheppard asked, "I thought you wanted to be an action hero."

"No, sir," Lorne replied levelly, "That's you."

"You think so?" Sheppard said thoughtfully, and looked around at the rest of the team, who were caught somewhere between agreeing with the statement and staring at him in utter confusion.

They'd come to fend off the bad guys, and it took them a second to tick over into a different mode.

"Ow. What happened?" everyone jumped in surprise, looking at Avyan, who was just sitting up.

"I hit you," Lorne explained.

"Oh yes. I remember that," Avyan replied faintly.

"And then I shot him," Karka supplied.

"You what!?" Sheppard all but shouted, and Karka shrank back in fright.

"It's fine," Lorne said, catching Sheppard's arm before he could get up and round on her in his sudden outrage, "She's a terrible shot."

Sheppard looked back at Lorne, who shrugged mildly, then at Karka, who smiled in an abashed sort of way. He looked back and forth a few more times before accepting that whatever threat had existed had inexplicably passed on, and there was no real reason to bring back trouble that was already gone.

Recovering himself, Sheppard took a closer look at the wound to Lorne's side.

He whistled, "Damn. She _is_ a terrible shot."

The others just couldn't quite keep up with the whiplash effect of this conversation.

"I'm sorry," Rodney spat irritably, "Are we just going to gloss over the fact that this woman-" he gestured with his own M9 that he had drawn on arrival at the scene, "-shot Major Lorne?"

Sheppard looked at Lorne hard. Lorne looked back passively. Sheppard looked up at Rodney and said, "Oh absolutely."

Rodney twitched uncomfortably, lowered his M9, lifted it to look at it, then put it away.

"Just so long as we're clear on that," he muttered, still eying Karka suspiciously.

The enforced jocular atmosphere helped to steady nerves and drain the anxious feeling that always followed unspent adrenaline rush. It was the same thing Lorne had done a moment before to calm Karka, and Sheppard was doing it to calm everyone. The others hesitated, but Lorne supported Sheppard in the endeavor immediately. Karka had joined in readily because it was an exercise she had just gone through with Lorne before Sheppard's team arrived, and people are often eager to play a game they've just learned the rules for.

"So will I live?" Lorne asked Sheppard lightly after a few minutes.

"Yes," Sheppard pronounced, "But it's a pretty long haul back to the Stargate, and I'd like that wound to stop bleeding before we make it."

Nobody pointed out that it was also a bit of a climb to get up Ring Hill. No problem for anybody in even remotely good physical condition (even Rodney had little trouble with it), but for someone who'd been battered and shot like Lorne, it would be much harder, even with help. And it wasn't exactly practical to carry him, considering terrain and circumstance. If Lorne had been more severely injured, Sheppard would have come up with a different plan, but as matters stood now it made sense for Lorne to at least partially carry himself.

"We're probably in radio range," Rodney said, "We could let the teams at the Stargate know where we are, and that we've found Major Lorne."

"You do that," Sheppard advised, a guarded look coming into his eyes.

Lorne was the first to notice the change in Sheppard's aspect, being right next to him. Reflexively, he looked around, trying to identify the danger. His action had a ripple effect on Ronon and Teyla, who each cast about them, checking to be sure all was as well as it seemed. It was not.

"Where is Mitali?" Teyla asked.

Rodney forgot the radio he'd been starting to fuss with, "He was with us when the shot was fired."

"He followed us," Ronon said, "He got here when we did."

"If he has returned to tell the Ntsevu where we are," Teyla suggested, not finishing the thought aloud.

"That little snake," Sheppard hissed, as he realized what had happened.

Mitali had known or been told that Sheppard's team might have better luck catching up with Lorne than any of the others, because they knew him, and because he would trust them. Queen Jahnavi wouldn't risk going up against the Lanteans on Ring Hill, nor even Sheppard's team without just cause. But with only the four of them between her and what she believed to be the salvation of her people? That was a risk John knew that she would take.

"Rodney, stay here with Lorne," John snapped, "Teyla, Ronon."

"But-" Rodney broke off, his objection not heard as the rest of the team ran off quickly, "Okay."

They knew Mitali must have gone back the way they'd come, because he could never have slipped away unnoticed otherwise. What they didn't know was whether he'd been carrying a notebird, or if he'd have to run back to the city or if there might be soldiers closer at hand than that. They also didn't know how much he'd heard before he left. Their goal was to intercept him, stop him from alerting anyone to their location, and also to find out what he knew, such as if there were any soldiers nearby.

But Mitali was faster in the forest than even Ronon, presumably because he was familiar with every inch of it. They didn't search long before John called them to regroup. They'd lost him, and looking for him was a waste of time, time they didn't have. Ronon and Teyla didn't like that outcome any more than John did.

Returning to where they'd left the others, John wasn't surprised that Lorne had managed to talk Rodney into helping him stand up. Lorne had been in flight long enough to know when it was time to run.

John breezed right past them and keyed his radio. They were just barely in range to be heard by those on Ring Hill. He told them that his team had found Lorne. He also told them that the Ntsevu would be hot on their trail. Lt. Reed asked to come and join them, but John told him to stay on the Hill and keep it secure. They could not risk losing their way out.

"Sorry, Major," John said when he finished on the radio, "Looks like we won't have time for a nap."

"That's okay, Colonel," Lorne replied cheerfully, "I wasn't sleepy anyway."

John put a hand on Lorne's shoulder and squeezed it gently. He knew Lorne was lying outright, he'd heard as much in the Major's voice earlier. But Lorne was a fighter, and he would not go down easy.

John turned to Karka and Avyan, "You know this area," it was a statement, not a question.

"Well," Avyan confirmed.

"Show us the fastest way to Ring Hill."

John knew that the fasted route wasn't necessarily a straight one. Traveling speed was seriously affected by terrain. A faster route would also be an easier one. The quicker they got to Ring Hill, the better. Barring that, the more energy they conserved, the better.

"You would trust us?" Karka inquired, her eyes widening in surprise.

"We haven't got time to be choosy about our friends," John said, taking one of Lorne's arms and putting it around his shoulders so he could help the injured man keep his feet once they were on their way. It was a little bit awkward, since John was several inches taller than Lorne, but he wanted Teyla working with Ronon providing security ahead and behind because the two of them were the most alert and capable fighters, and he wasn't about to hand the job off to Rodney.

Karka and Avyan took the lead, Ronon following them closely. Teyla took the rearguard position, and Rodney hung near John and Lorne, serving as a nervous last line of defense should it be needed.

The combination of darkness and an injured member of their party made travel necessarily slow. Aside from that, Lorne wasn't the only one who was tired. Everyone else had also done a lot of traveling, most recently at a rapid pace. So concerned with making sure Lorne didn't trip, John at one point failed to note a rock in his own path. When he hit it, John stumbled and nearly fell, but fortunately Rodney was close on the other side of Lorne and managed to help the Major avoid going down with him.

Fortunately, despite how slowly they traveled, the team actually had an advantage. They were all experienced in traveling great distances. Even Rodney, who was perpetually complaining, was surprisingly resilient. The primary duties of the royal guards were localized to the city, and moving fast through the valley wasn't one of their strong suits. The advantage would have been countered by the hunter's familiarity with the landscape if not for Avyan and Karka, who followed animal and hunter trails that were much easier than simply blundering through the woods as John's team would have.

Avyan and Karka also knew where some of the guards had been deployed near the Ring Hill. By going ahead, they could also warn the team to stay back if they ran into any guards. Not only would the guards recognize the royal scientists, they would also believe them when Karka and Avyan said they had seen no one. The freedom of scientists was such that no one was likely to question what they were doing roaming the woods late at night.

Despite all that, John had huge concerns, primarily about Lorne. The Major's bullet wound hadn't been given time to stop bleeding, and now was being agitated by the unwonted exercise. When they periodically stopped to rest, John was dismayed to see that it continued to bleed. The bleeding wasn't profuse, but over time it would be enough to bring the Major down. Whenever John stopped to check the wound, Karka would quickly began to apologize all over again, but he ignored her.

Lorne, for his part, didn't say much at all. It seemed to be all he could do to gasp and occasionally moan, but mostly just try to breathe steadily and keep moving. Other than that, he went entirely into energy conservation mode, leaving all conversation and decision making to the others.

But beneath his strained silence, Lorne's mind was still very much at work. Just because he didn't trouble himself to react to the environment and people around him didn't mean he wasn't still aware of or processing what was going on around him. At one point when they stopped to rest, and the others were a few feet away, distracted by discussing the next leg of the journey, Lorne gathered himself enough to speak to Sheppard quietly.

After the initial shock of having been shot wore off, and Lorne had some time to think, he remembered that Karka and Avyan had been the ones his team had first contacted. Moreover, he remembered how they (mostly Karka) had talked, eager and interested in the Stargate, seeking escape from the Wraith. And too, he'd had time to replay the events in his mind when Avyan and Karka had found him, to understand exactly why Karka had shot him. This he explained slowly and methodically to Sheppard.

With mild prompting, he answered questions about his interactions with Jahnavi, Rasika and any other Ntsevu he'd had even brief contact with. Sheppard already knew more or less what had happened, but he wanted the story from Lorne's perspective as well.

Sheppard was somewhat surprised by the lack of hostility or resentment in Lorne's tone as he related his experiences. Lorne confirmed that the imprisonment had been a trifle inconvenient and uncomfortable for him, but that he had not been mistreated except by Rasika, who had acted as if she was very concerned with secrecy.

"When most people get kidnapped," Sheppard remarked, "They tend to be a little bit annoyed about it."

"You know what my first _real_ off-world assignment was?" Lorne asked.

"Some sort of naquadah mining operation, I think," Sheppard said with a shrug, though of course they both knew he was perfectly well acquainted with Lorne's service record, "Wound up being run by the local Unas, right?"

"P3X-403," Lorne said, "That's the designation they gave the planet. I don't remember all of them, but I damn well remember that one."

"A member of your unit was killed," Sheppard said.

"Yes," Lorne replied, "By the Unas we eventually formed an alliance with."

Sheppard saw the point Lorne was making, and Lorne knew it, but he spoke it aloud anyway.

"Colonel, if the Ntsevu have something we need, I recommend you don't let this incident stop us from getting it. And don't punish them," he nodded in the direction of Karka and Avyan, "For what others did."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Major," Sheppard said.


	15. Chapter 15

It was all very anticlimactic really. When they neared the Ring Hill, some of the royal guards who'd been posted on the main road there spotted them and tried to stop them. The guards were hopelessly outmatched to begin with, but the odds were even more against them once the teams at the top of the Hill engaged and provided cover for those trying to get up it.

Lorne not only made it up the Hill while the others held the guards off him, he turned around once he got there, sitting on the slope near the top and added covering fire with what remained of the bullets in his M9 to that which the other teams were providing, until Sheppard's team was up there with them.

They didn't delay getting through the Stargate, and took Karka and Avyan with them, for fear the two would be executed as traitors for helping them. Surprisingly few Ntsevu guards were killed or even seriously injured. Few, but more than none. John knew Elizabeth wouldn't be happy to hear it, but that she would understand that it couldn't be helped without John's risking the lives of his own people.

Once they made it through the 'Gate to Atlantis, Lorne basically collapsed and they let Dr. Beckett's team handle it from there. Rodney handed over the vial he was still carrying, and later on Carson would exclaim with some anger about how barbaric and nasty it was. But he would also confirm that Lorne had somehow worked the stuff out of his system. The only thing Carson could figure was that Lorne had received only a very little of the stuff, otherwise it would've killed him for sure, probably before the end of twenty-four hours. Certainly it would have at least dropped him in a few heartbeats, and he never would have made it out of the palace.

"Just be glad it didna' shatter on yer way home," Carson remarked to Rodney at the meeting Elizabeth called the day after the teams had returned.

"Oh," Rodney had responded worriedly, "I didn't even think of that."

Elizabeth wasn't exactly as open-minded as Lorne. She wasn't fond of dealing with killers anyway, but as far as she was concerned, the Ntsevu were engaged in a special kind of cruelty. Carson had filled her in on the effects of the poison before the meeting, though he didn't rehash them here. Rodney had told her about the things he'd found in the research notes, and in the books as well. And she needed no one to tell her how much Lorne had suffered at the hands of the Ntsevu, she could see that for herself.

"I understand why you brought back Avyan and Karka, and for what it's worth I approve. I think," she had also heard that Karka had shot Lorne, which was difficult to take pragmatically, even given the surrounding circumstances, "But I am equally convinced the risks of dealing with the Ntsevu outweigh the possibilities of reward."

"Elizabeth, they might have a ZPM," Rodney protested.

"And are you volunteering to be their next test subject?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

They looked at each other in silence for a second or two, then Rodney dropped his gaze.

"I thought not," Elizabeth said, then returned her attention to the group, "The fact remains that their so-called temple is very far from the Stargate, in an area not readily accessible by puddle jumper, and there are a lot of Ntsevu between us and it, and they're probably angry with us."

The puddle jumper could of course come through the Stargate, and Ring Hill was plenty clear enough for it to gain altitude and get above the trees, but the trees were too thick for it to land anywhere in the valley, or even get a good view of the ground. There were clearings, and roads, but none big enough for a puddle jumper to land. That was why they hadn't used one during their entire operation there.

John had held more or less this position from the moment Major Lorne's team had come back without him. But the story of the Unas on P3X-403 was now fresh in mind, not only because Lorne had reminded him of it, but because John had gone back and looked at the records concerning that mission. He had already looked at it in connection with Lorne's service record, but looking at the mission in terms of itself had been somewhat illuminating. He was reasonably convinced that no one aside from Dr. Jackson could have had a hope in hell of brokering a peace under those circumstances. Almost more astounding was how Dr. Jackson had first come in contact and bonded with the Unas called Chaka who had helped him do so. Chaka had by all evidence originally captured Jackson with the intention of eating him, or at least feeding the doctor to its relatives. Somehow, Jackson had managed to get from being an evening meal to a status seemingly akin to friendship with Chaka, and had convinced the Unas on the mining planet to cease their murderous crusade against the Tau'ri, and also to become allies against the Goa'uld.

Unlike the Unas, the Ntsevu had so far not succeeded in killing anyone. In fact, the Lanteans had killed some of the Ntsevu, and injured others. The Ntsevu had managed to wound only one of the Lanteans. Perhaps it was a waste of time to try but, as Rodney pointed out, the possibility of a ZPM shouldn't be ignored. Major Lorne had said much the same thing. If any of them had the right to simply write off the Ntsevu as a lost cause, it was Lorne. But he hadn't done that. John found that he also couldn't under the circumstances, though he would have vastly preferred it.

"They're just trying to protect themselves from the Wraith," John said, not entirely believing the words had come from him even as he heard himself say them.

Elizabeth evidently didn't either, because she simply stared at him. In fact, that's what everyone at the table did.

"What?" he asked defensively, "All I'm sayin' is that they're just trying to survive. Teyla, you said yourself that you might have done the same thing if you were in their shoes."

"I said that to be diplomatic, John," Teyla protested.

"Maybe, but it's still true," John said, and she did not attempt to deny it.

"So what if we give them what they want?" Rodney suggested after a momentary silence, "Look, I've been talking to Karka and Avyan. Their best bet at survival is to leave the valley. Some of their people believe getting over the mountains is the way, others believe using the Stargate to go somewhere else is the solution. Either way, it gets them out of the valley, and leaves the ZPM -if there is one- abandoned."

"But do not some of them also believe that the blood of the N'we is the only answer?" Teyla asked.

"Sure, but we're not offering _that_ ," Rodney said, "You think they're gonna turn it down if we offer them a way out of that deathtrap of a valley they're living in? I don't. They're desperate, not stupid," he turned to Elizabeth, knowing it was she that he had to convince, "Say we send them information on how to dial to another world, one of the uninhabited ones we know of. We don't even have to go back there to give them that information."

"You mean send them a note?" John inquired.

"Yeah, or maybe return Karka and Avyan," Rodney said, then added seeing the doubt on the faces around him, "Look, they _want_ to go home. Whatever the consequences, they want to go back. Ask them yourself if you don't believe me."

"They've seen Atlantis. Can we really trust them to keep it a secret?" Elizabeth asked.

"They don't know it's Atlantis," Rodney said, "They don't even know what Atlantis _is_ , and we haven't told them. All they know is that the technology at our disposal is a helluva lot more sophisticated than the bows and arrows their people are using."

Elizabeth did not look happy about the proposed solution. She looked even less happy that John and Rodney were united on it. She knew she could still say no and that they would both treat her word as Law. But she also knew that it wasn't the right call. There was too much that might be gained, and she could not in good conscience leave an entire people trapped in a valley with the Wraith awakened in numbers. It was the easy thing to do. But it was not the right thing to do.

She was not ready to green light the mission. First she would talk to Karka and Avyan. And then she would take a little time to think about it. At least, that's what she said. But John and Rodney knew they'd won, and it was only a matter of time before Elizabeth let them do it.

* * *

When they returned to the valley, Avyan and Karka were arrested on sight, and were brought as prisoners to Queen Jahnavi. Jahnavi's anger was great, for in her eyes they had taken the side of evil, and allowed the N'we to escape. Despite their protests, she did not believe them when they said that it was Rasika who had started the true conflict. She was wise enough to see that the killing of her people at Ring Hill had been necessary in the estimation of the Lanteans, because by that point violence was inevitable. She had committed her people to killing the N'we, and the Lanteans had fought in self defense. She did not believe they understood the true nature of the N'we, that they sheltered him because they believed he was one of them. But the fact remained that they _were_ sheltering him, and that Karka and Avyan had sided with them, and against their own people.

Karka tried to explain to her that they had been given a Stargate address to another world. While they were not assured of safety there, they would have a better chance of being able to hide, to protect themselves, and maybe even to learn to fight back against the Wraith. But Jahnavi would not hear her. Converted to the belief that the N'we were evil, she was now convinced that the Ntsevu would find nothing good on the other side of the Stargate.

Avyan and Karka were thrown into prison for their treachery, but Jahnavi was reluctant to have them executed. Regardless of what they'd done and what lies they believed, they were still royal scientists, with ability and knowledge that would be hard to replace.

Within the week, the Wraith returned to cull the Ntsevu. The Wraith had wiped out entire peoples because the numbers of waking Wraith were too many for it to be otherwise. But in the case of the Ntsevu, despite their confinement, the people were spread throughout the valley, and trees provided ample cover in certain areas. The Wraith focused on the city, and its population. They missed the jail section of the palace entirely. But they did not miss Jahnavi or Rasika.

After the attack was over, the ragged remains of the Ntsevu slowly began to regroup. Having lost their queen, as well as members of their families, the remaining Ntsevu were much more open minded about what Avyan and Karka had to say. In very little time, the majority of them had packed what belongings they could carry, and made their journey through the Stargate to that other world.

The Lanteans had been keeping an eye on the world. Seeing the Ntsevu had arrived, an offer of aid in settling was extended, and accepted by the new leadership. Karka and Avyan were young, yes, but they had led the people into this new world. By default, they became the new leaders, at least for the short-term. It was they who had known where to go, and they who had the favor of the Lanteans.

Once it was clear the Ntsevu had left, a team was dispatched to check out the now abandoned temple.

* * *

The lights flickered overhead, but Rodney wasn't sure if that was because of a lack of power, or the presence of damage. Certainly this Ancient structure had seen better days.

"Near as I can tell from what little I've been able to access of the computer systems," Rodney said, "This is... basically a guard post. Obviously its weapons aren't as significant as the ones back in Atlantis, it couldn't even keep Wraith darts from coming through the Stargate. Certainly by the last time it was used, it only protected this area of the valley, the city itself."

"Why would the Wraith keep coming back to a world where they could not feed?" Teyla wondered aloud.

Rodney looked up, thought for a moment, then concluded, "Because the Ntsevu weren't the only people here. It was in their records. Incomplete, but there. Maybe there's a transporter somewhere in this building, or maybe they used ships, but there are people outside the valley. People the Wraith had been feeding on instead of the Ntsevu."

"Until they ran out of people to operate the temple," John remarked dryly.

Rodney moved to a different console and studied the controls for a lengthy moment before accessing what amounted to a list of requested operations, a history of what the building had been asked to do.

"Details are a little sketchy," Rodney murmured after a time, "It's not exactly a historical record. But it looked like there were six groups, four of which eventually left the valley. The N'we and Ntsevu stayed behind to stand guard. Over the generations, the protection got weaker, and they forgot what they were doing and why. Records were lost or destroyed... dear God," Rodney said, looking up and around for John, "Rasika was right. Not about Major Lorne, obviously, but..." he shook his head, "The temple didn't run out of power. Someone shut it off. Someone with the ATA gene."

"The N'we were being tortured and killed," Teyla ventured, "Perhaps they felt this was their only hope for escape. Perhaps even death at the hands of the Wraith was preferable."

"Death by Wraith and dooming all of your people to be culled forever being the least of two evils," John said flatly, "Now there's a sobering thought."

"Perhaps they did not think of the Ntsevu as their people," Teyla replied mildly.

"They lived with them, didn't they?" John muttered.

"I spent two years with the Russians," Rodney snapped, "Didn't make me Russian."

"I think that being assigned to a foreign country for a couple of years is a little different from spending your entire life somewhere," John retorted.

"Maybe not if you're the only thing standing between a population that's increasingly hostile to you and death," Rodney suggested, "Remember, the N'we didn't do this until the Ntsevu started not just imprisoning and experimenting on them, but actually killing them."

"I don't think it matters," Ronon interrupted, adding simply, "They're dead. We're not."

Rodney frowned, unhappy at being halted mid-argument, but he quietly said, "Good point."

Silence descended, interrupted only by Rodney occasionally cursing at the computer. Finally he stood back from a console and shook his head in defeat.

"There's not enough power left in this place to run a toaster oven. ZPM's almost completely dead."

"That's what I was afraid of," John sighed, "All this for nothing."

Rodney almost agreed, then spoke up, "Not necessarily."

John looked at him quizzically.

"We can't use this temple to protect ourselves, sure. But we can use it to find the other people on the planet. We could help them move off-world. They could even rejoin the Ntsevu. That's not nothing."

"If they wish to come, and if they believe us," Teyla said skeptically, "Unlike the Ntsevu, they are unlikely to remember the Stargate. They probably believe the Wraith come from the mountains."

"Well it's worth trying isn't it?" Rodney asked, "After all, we're not just here to save ourselves, are we?" he looked from Teyla to John and repeated, "Are we?"

"The man has a point," John admitted, "And Elizabeth does like humanitarian efforts."

"I think this qualifies," Rodney said.

* * *

Major Lorne was still on light duty, but at least he was more or less free of the infirmary. He was happy to be free of confinement, but less happy that it also meant he was once again a target for the members of the Geek Squad who lacked the ATA gene. At the best of times, he'd found being asked to come and turn things on got tiresome. Now it made him flinch, and wonder for half a beat if something awful was going to happen because of it. He'd never been afraid of turning the lights on before.

Intellectually, he knew nothing bad was likely to happen. On the surface he tried to downplay how bad the experience with the Ntsevu had been. In fact, it took him a little while to realize how bad it had been himself, even though it had happened to him. When he'd been focused entirely on survival, there hadn't been time to be afraid or self-pitying. He just had to react, to survive, to fight. But with time, the emotions of it started to hit him. He didn't like admitting it to himself, but he was scared, even though the danger was now gone. He couldn't seem to help it.

He knew the fear would pass. One thing he'd learned over his years in the Stargate program was that the fear always passed if you let it. He'd seen some guys try to fight it, to hold it off, pretend like nothing had even happened, only to find they got weaker and the fear got stronger and eventually they just drowned. He'd also seen guys excuse their fear by constantly referring to its source, never moving forward, stuck as if in a quagmire, and slowly just giving up. Lorne had learned from experience that he could not allow fear to take control of him in the moment something was happening, but that it would come later whether he liked it or not. He just had to deal with it, go through it, then let it go.

In the meantime, he was still trying not to jump whenever the lights came on.

"Major!"

Lorne was surprised to find himself startled even at the sound of Colonel Sheppard calling him by rank. True, the call came from behind him, and Lorne hadn't been aware Sheppard was back on Atlantis after his most recent foray onto the planet of the Ntsevu to locate the last of their people.

Lorne stopped in the hall and turned, acknowledging his leader, "Colonel."

"How would you like to play shuttle bus pilot for the next couple days?"

"Sir?" Lorne replied quizzically.

"Look, I've been flying around, finding the Mbirhi, Nharhu, Mune and Nt... something or other, and then makin' nice with them and askin' them if they'd like to leave. They're all very into that idea, but I've logged a lot of flight hours and I could use a break."

Lorne gazed at Sheppard doubtfully. It was unlike the colonel to leave a job unfinished, even if it was uninteresting and repetitive. Colonel Sheppard finished what he started.

"Besides," Sheppard continued, "It was your mission first. I thought you might like to finish it."

"I'm still on light duty, Colonel," Lorne reminded him.

"You don't have to set up the operation, I've done that. I've picked the people, the times, the locations. I've got people on the ground getting the tribes ready, and I've got a couple puddle jumper pilots handy. All I want you to do is run it and pilot a jumper."

"I don't think Dr. Beckett would consider that 'light duty'," Lorne pointed out.

"I'll fix Carson. Now do you want to do it or not?" Sheppard demanded.

"Sounds like it needs doing," Lorne replied, "After all, the people can't get over the mountains to Ring Hill on foot. Someone's got to help take them home."

"Good man," Sheppard said, clapping Lorne on the shoulder, "You start in two hours."

He started past Lorne, heading down the hall.

"And where are you going?" Lorne asked.

"To find Carson," Sheppard tossed over his shoulder, "And then I'm goin' to bed to sleep for a week."

Lorne watched him go for a moment, then shook his head and smiled.

It was good to be back.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the story, thanks for reading (and reviewing), goodnight everybody.**_


End file.
